New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) Rajya Sabha CPI MP Sandosh Kumar P on Wednesday demanded a comprehensive package for the rural economy which is under distress due to the ongoing West Asia crisis as their products are stuck at various ports.
Participating in a discussion on the working of the rural development ministry in the House, he said that more funds must be allocated to the ministry.
“We are discussing the functioning of Ministry of Rural Development in a changed circumstance. And we all know what is the changed circumstance, that is the global war going on. Americans and Israelis targeted Iran and retaliation is happening. The point is that who are the worst sufferers –our villagers. And we need to protect our villagers,” Sandosh said.
He said 4 lakh tonne of basmati rice worth at least Rs 3,200 crore is stranded at various ports following the West Asia crisis.
“Who are the sufferers, sir? The poor cultivators. More than 80 lakh eggs meant for export to Gulf countries are stuck. Who are the sufferers? Our poor poultry farmers,” the MP from Kerala said.
Sandosh said, around 6,000 tonne of grapes are at risk of being spoilt and over 1,200 containers of bananas are stuck in cold storages.
“We need to protect our rural economy from distress,” he said, and demanded “a comprehensive rural economy package”.
Participating in the discussion, Chowdry Mohammad Ramzan of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference demanded that the Centre release funds to J&K.
He said, with reference to Jammu and Kashmir, there is a liability of Rs 196.29 crore on the Centre and this amount should be released to the Union Territory.
Ramzan also demanded an increase in wages, terming the existing Rs 259 per head wage as “insufficient”.
BJP’s Dharmshila Gupta credited the Modi government for checking the issue of fake job cards and middlemen in the rural livelihood scheme.
“Under the leadership of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji, the government has taken steps to bring transparency. Wages are now paid through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), directly into the workers’ bank accounts. The cards were linked to Aadhaar and fake beneficiaries have been removed,” she said.
Gupta said the Centre has increased 125 job days in the Viksit Bharat— Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB G-RAM-G Act from 100 working days. PTI AKV AKV ANU ANU
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.