Oppn walks out of MP Assembly over hailstorm loss to farmers

Opposition led by the Congress today staged a walkout from Madhya Pradesh Assembly over "unsatisfactory" reply by Revenue Minister Rampal Singh on the issue of damage caused to crops of farmers due to hailstorm.
The matter pertaining to the damage suffered by the farmers due to recent hailstorm was raised by Rajnish Singh and Ramniwas Rawat (both Congress) and Hitendra Singh Solanki of BJP through a calling attention motion after Zero Hour.
Replying on the issue, the Revenue Minister said that 22 districts were affected due to hailstorm that had hit the state during February-March and affected 1,086 villages.
"14 people had lost their lives, 129 domestic animals were killed and 125 houses were damaged due to the hail and thunderstorm," the minister said.

He further said that kin of the deceased persons was sanctioned compensation of Rs 4 lakh each while the survey of the damaged crops is going on.
"After the survey (is completed), the list of the affected farmers will be displayed in Panchayat office and the compensation will be directly transferred to their respective bank accounts. Besides, the government is also helping them in the marriage of affected farmers daughters," he said.

However, the opposition expressed their dissatisfaction over Singh's reply and demanded that the announcements made by the minister on the issue of compensation be given in writing.
They alleged that the officials are not implementing the directions in toto.

The in-charge Leader of Opposition, Bala Bachchan alleged the minister was evading a proper reply on the issue and doing politics, after which the entire opposition staged a walkout on the issue.
Reacting to the walkout, Higher and Technical Education Minister Uma Shankar Gupta termed the development as "unfortunate", saying the Revenue Minister has replied to each and every member.
Besides Congress, a number of BJP members also raised the issue of hailstorm-affected farmers in their respective constituencies.