The government responded at length to the death of farmer Gajendra Singh in the Lower House on Thursday.

While Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke extensively about the measures being taken by government to tackle the prevalent agrarian crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the larger issue at stake. Stating that it was a complicated problem, the PM welcomed constructive suggestions from the Opposition.

I want to join the Parliamentarians present here in condoling the death of Gajendra Singh. What we are currently facing is a difficult and a rather complicated question and let’s see it as such. It is time for us as leaders to analyse and see where we are going wrong and why we are unable to solve the problem. I am open to all suggestions from every party.
– Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh prefaced his statement with condolences before going on to say: “The incident is undoubtedly a sad one. It must not and will not be politicised by the government”.

Backing the Delhi police, he also issued a clarification on the sequence of events, claiming that the Delhi Police had “tried to stop” the crowd from encouraging Gajendra Singh.

The crowd present at the rally was clapping and indulging in sloganeering which would encourage Gajendra Singh. The Delhi Police tried to stop that. In such a situation people should talk to him and convince him to step down but what happened was the exact opposite.|
– Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister

He also said that he has instructed Delhi Police to carry out a timely probe.

Tackling the issues which have been raised by leaders across party lines within the last couple of days, Rajnath Singh said, “This is not just the responsibility of the government but all the Parliamentarians. The Opposition must join us in finding a solution”.

From 1950-51 till date, the contribution of agriculture to the country’s GDP was 50% but now it is only 14%. I think we should discuss why this is happening.
– Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister

Rajnath Singh said that the blame game over whose government is behind the rise in farmer suicides must stop. It wasn’t a question of which party was pro-farmer, he argued, but about putting all heads together to find a cohesive solution.

In an attempt to prove that the present government had undertaken various farmer-friendly measures, Singh pointed out that the soil Health Card had been brought in while farmers had been encouraged to adopt the ‘Per Drop More Crop’ campaign. “The House knows that the government has been working towards bringing round-the-clock electricity for villages,” he argued.

Rajnath Singh said that skill-development programmes for the kin of farmers also play a crucial role in increasing productivity and that the government is facilitating it.

He also responded to Deepender Hooda’s claim that when in power, the Congress had waived off farmer debts. Rajnath asserted that it had been waived off at the time not because of farmer distress but because it had been election year.

Opposition Responds

Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge responded to some of the claims made by the Home Minister. He accused the government and the police of inaction when farmer Gajendra Singh was attempting suicide.

Leaders on the stage did not protect him. Police was present to control the crowd. So when he was climbing the tree why didn’t the police act? Was the force sleeping? What did you do to save him?
– Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition

He also defended the waiver saying, “You might view it as waiving the debt off in an election year but the farmers across the country were happy”. The question of providing relief to an affected state in case of a natural calamity was also brought up by him.

Instead of sending a team, one instalment of the relief is sent even before the damage is calculated. How much did the government of India provide as relief in advance?
– Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition

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