Government today acknowledged in Rajya Sabha that there are problems in effective implementation of Crop Insurance Scheme and warned of cancelling the licences of companies if such a request is received from any state government.
At the same time, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh rubbished Congress claim that more farmers had committed suicide during the 10-month Narendra Modi government than since Independence and countered by saying that 1.22 lakh members of agriculture community had ended their lives between 2006 and 2013, during UPA rule.
The House saw the entire opposition, led by Congress, staging a walkout, dissatisfied with Singh's reply to a debate on 'Agrarian Crisis and Farmers' Suicide'.
In his reply, the Minister listed a series of measures taken by the government to end the farmers' plight, including efforts to bring more farm land under irrigation.
However, he admitted that there are problems in effective implementation of Crop Insurance Scheme as he responded to concerns voiced by members about inadequate benefits to farmers from it.
He assured the House that the government would not hesitate to cancel the licences of insurance companies if a request is send by the state governments.
In his reply, Singh dismissed Congress member Pramod Tiwari's contention that more farmers have committed suicide since the Modi government took office in May last year than seen since Independence.
"Between 2006 and 2013, about 1.22 lakh farmers committed suicide in the country. If the member is suggesting that 1.23 lakh farmers committed suicide during the last ten months of the NDA government, then there cannot be nothing more baffling than this," he said.
However, talking about the recent suicides in the country, he said he does not "agree" with the figures given by the state governments.
While Punjab has reported only five suicides, Maharashtra government has cited 601 suicides and 70 in Uttar Pradesh, he said.
