Opposition parties constituting the Third Front forced proceedings in parliament to be adjourned on Wednesday, while highlighting the plight of farmers across the country.
New Delhi, Feb 27 : Opposition parties constituting the Third Front forced proceedings in parliament to be adjourned on Wednesday, while highlighting the plight of farmers across the country.
Members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Samajwadi Party and the Telugu Desam Party members disrupted the proceedings in the Lower House, forcing speaker Somnath Chatterjee to adjourn deliberations.
Chatterjee said, "I am giving a notice that from tomorrow those members coming to the Well of the House will suffer."
Opposition members, however, insisted that the Question Hour be used for a discussion on the plight of farmers.
Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav said the centre should waive off farmers' debts.
"We have no hope from the Uttar Pradesh government's forthcoming budget. Asking banks to lower interest rates would not solve the problem; suicides can only be stopped, once the farmers get loan waivers and are saved from debt burden. They should also be provided with proper irrigation facilities, electricity, and insecticides, in time and loans at very low interest rates," he said.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau data, Maharashtra is ahead of all others in the farmers' suicide cases. In last one-year, the rise in farmer suicides in Maharashtra is four and a half times higher than Andhra Pradesh.
The latest data from the NCRB show that Maharashtra recorded 4,453 farmer suicides, higher than any other state.
Tata Institute of Social Sciences' figures suggest that around 150,000 farmers had committed suicide over the past 10 years as they could not repay debt owed to money-lenders.
ANI