New Delhi: During the second phase of the budget session in Parliament, a round of questions and answers was seen between Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Priyanka Gandhi asked Agriculture Minister Chauhan questions related to local farmers after the natural disaster in Wayanad. In response, Agriculture Minister Chauhan made it clear that PM Modi and the central government do not discriminate against any state. He gave the example of Andhra Pradesh and said that when there was a problem, I myself went there.
In the Lok Sabha, Priyanka Gandhi asked that during the Vidarbha package, three districts of Kerala were also included. Seeing the devastation in Wayanad, is the ministry going to do a special review regarding Wayanad? Apart from this, seeing the problems of the rubber farmers of Kerala, is the Center taking any steps. Seeing the turmoil in the prices of chilli, does the ministry have any special plan?
Agriculture Minister Chauhan stood up to answer Priyanka’s questions. He said that farmers are farmers, whether from Kerala or Karnataka. There is no question of discrimination. I would like to request that when such disasters occur, the central government allocates funds to each state under SBRF. This happens on the basis of the recommendations of the Planning Commission. 75 percent of it belongs to the center and 25 percent of the amount belongs to the state.
Union Minister Chauhan said that there was a problem in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Flood situation arose due to excessive rain. The central team went there. The situation was assessed there and a report was also submitted. On this basis, the amount of NDRF is given to the state governments. Kerala was also given 138 crores under NDRF. On Priyanka Gandhi’s last question, Shivraj said that she asked about the rate. I want to tell her that the price of sugar had come down recently. Chilli is also included in spices. Our government immediately decided that sugar will be purchased at the rate of Rs 11 thousand per quintal.
