Centre claims cut in farmer suicides

The government on Wednesday said farmer suicides have dropped almost nine per cent between 2015 and 2016 despite drought in many parts. It also countered the Opposition charge that private insurers were benefitting under the new crop insurance scheme (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana), saying it was the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) which had first allowed private firms in 2007.

Replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the agrarian crisis, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said the government was alive to the problems of farmers, and was making efforts to resolve them.

Singh, whose more than hour-long reply was