Upper House discusses functioning of Urban Development, Agriculture Ministries; Opposition wants debate on Home Ministry
The Rajya Sabha Chairman has not as of now denied the Opposition parties’ request for a similar discussion on the Union Home Ministry
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar conducts the proceedings of the house during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Rajya Sabha has discussed and reviewed the functioning of the Urban Development and Agriculture Ministries of the Union Government on Thursday. 15 Opposition parties have requested Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar that a similar discussion on the Union Home Ministry must also be allowed in the Upper House. Mr. Dhankhar said in the House that the next discussion will be on the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. He, however, has not declined the request of the Opposition yet.
On Thursday, Urban Development Minister Manohar Lal replied to a two-day debate on his Ministry and said the States also have a huge role to play in building the urban infrastructure. He criticised the Delhi government for not implementing the drainage master plan and urged the State to take the immediate steps in the wake of the mishap in Rajinder Nagar that took lives of three students recently. “The national capital did not implement the drainage master plan. Had it implemented the plan properly, the Delhi government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi would have succeeded in completing the de-silting process,” he said.
Mr. Lal said through schemes such Smart City, the Narendra Modi government has brought in several progressives changes in the city infrastructure across the country and helped the States for the betterment of the urban infrastructure and has moved towards achieving the goal of ‘housing for all’. He said three crore houses have been built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) amid criticism from the Opposition MPs that the allotment under the scheme is miniscule and the Centre is more interested in publicity than helping the poor living in cities to fulfil their dream of constructing a home. CPI(M) MP V. Sivadasan urged the Centre to address the rural distress to ease the exodus towards cities. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi demanded focussed schemes for housing and urban employment.
Later after Mr. Lal’s reply, the House took up a discussion on the functioning of Union Agriculture Ministry. Initiating the debate, senior Congress MP Randeep Surjewala said the income of farmers has come down in the last ten years even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that he will double the income of peasants. He said rather than increasing the allocations for agriculture and allied sectors, the Union Ministry surrendered about ₹ one lakh crore in the last five years without spending it. He said the subsidy for fertilisers has also been reduced. “The subsidy has been reduced by about ₹ 25,000 crore for urea and Phosphorus and Potash fertilisers alone,” he said. On PM Fasal Bima Yojna, he said between 2016-17 and June 30, 2024, the premium paid by farmers was ₹ 2,29,789 crore and insurance companies earned a profit of ₹63,648 crore.
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BJP MP Surendra Singh Nagar, who spoke after Mr. Surjewala, countered the allegations and said a farmer who spends ₹100 for premium gets about more than ₹400 as insurance. He questioned the Congress commitment towards farmers and said more than 1,200 farmers committed suicide in Karnataka in the last one and a half years and none of the Congress leaders have visited their families. He said Adivasi farmers who demanded urea were shot at and killed in Madhya Pradesh when the Congress was in power. He claimed that the Agriculture Ministry is helping farmers to increase production.
CPI(M) MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said the minimum support price must have to be ensured by a statutory protection for which farmers of the country are fighting. “Even today, the MSP in accordance with the formula of Dr Swaminathan has not been followed. The farmers are trying to organise their movement in demand of MSP,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.
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