A demand for investigating fake travel agencies operating in Punjab and illegally sending people abroad was today raised in the Rajya Sabha by BJP leader Shweth Mallik.
Raising the matter during Zero Hour, the member said many fake travel agencies have mushroomed in the state, while only 1,100 are officially registered.
"The fake agencies are sending people illegally to foreign countries. They are seizing their passports and forcing them into illegal activities," Mallik said.
Between April 2017 and February 2018, as many as 700 cases have been registered. People are sent to places like Irag and Panama. Children are being sent to foreign nations in the name of education, he said, and demanded a central agency probe into the matter.
Another member Ahamed Hassan (AITC) raised the issue of "injustice" being done to farmers in the name of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
"Since inception of the scheme, overall area increased initially. But later the area reduced by 25 per cent due to delayed payment," Hassan claimed.
Insurance companies received a premium of Rs 4,383 crore from farmers and Rs 17,796 crore from the Centre and state. Out of Rs 22,180 crore, only Rs 12,949 crore was given to farmers under PMFBY, just 58 per cent of the total allocation, he said.
Besides delayed payment, the government has made Aadhar mandatory for farmers to take crop insurance, he said.
Raising issues related to farmers, BJP member Vijay Pal Singh Tomar demanded the government make proper arrangement for procurement of kharif crops and storage facilities so that farmers get remunerative prices.
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