The Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who has returned from a two month mysterious sabbatical, take on the government over the land ordinance in his first speech in the current Lok Sabha from the Opposition benches.
Here are the Full text of his speech:
Speaker Sir
Whatever has been achieved in this country and whatever has been constructed, whether it is IT, whether it is defence, all the structures sit on top of a foundation. Everything has been built on a foundation that has been provided to us by the farmer.
The farmer gave us the Green Revolution, and the Green Revolution happened because the farmer was given abundant credit, and he was provided with the idea of MSP, so that he could sell his crops.
I am sorry to say Speaker Sir that on the matter of MSP and agriculture credit, the Achche Din government, that's their name and I take their permission to use it, has failed the country.
I'd like to point out a little bit about the MSP and agriculture credit. In our time, in UPA government's time, agriculture credit grew by 700 percent. It went up to Rs.8 lakh crore and 6.5 crore farmers benefited from this.
Our average increase in credit was 20 percent every year. I am sad to say that the current government has only given an increase of 5 percent. Comparing MSP, the current government has allowed it to stagnate. This is the heart of agriculture. Our record is available to everyone.
I would like to take your permission to repeat our record. In wheat, we raised the MSP from Rs.640 to Rs.1,400 per quintal. In rice, we raised the MSP from Rs.560 to Rs.1310 per quintal. In sugarcane, from Rs.73 to Rs.220 per quintal.
...And what has the current regime done over the last year? Wheat has been raised by Rs.50, sugarcane has been reached by Rs.10, and cotton by Rs.50. As if that was not enough, our farmers struggled. What is the result of this?
You talk about defending the country, strengthening the country, but what is the result of this. During our time, agriculture grew at 4.1 percent. In the previous NDA government, the India Shining government, your record was of 2.6 percent agricultural growth every year.
Your prime minister during the campaign spoke to the farmers and said that he will look after them. MSP is at where it was. Agriculture credit has not been improved, and agricultural growth rate is 1 percent. How can you talk about strengthening this country, when the foundation is the farmer? How are you going to do that?
Someone from an NGO came to me two days ago before the farmer's rally. He said he had gone to Mr Gadkari. First I like to praise Mr Gadkari. He is the one minister here who speaks his heart and tells the truth. He said - The farmer should depend neither on God nor on the government. He said what was in his heart. Mann ki baat, dil ki baat.
Rains and hailstorm resulted in the farmers' loss. Firstly, I want to give your prime minister an advice. A small one. Earlier, agriculture experts said that 180 lakh hectare was damaged. 14 states and Rs40,000 crore was lost.
The prime minister says that the experts are wrong, and 106 lakh hectare has been destroyed. Then, your agriculture ministry says that the prime minister is wrong, 80 lakh hectares have been affected. So please tell us who is correct here - agriculture experts, the prime minister or your agriculture ministry.
This is the way BJP operates. Say something here, say something there, and then say all is the same. The farmer faced loss.
Here's my advice, because of the confusion in numbers. Why doesn't the PM go and see it with his own eyes? The wheat is lying in the storehouses, the government is not bothered about it. The farmer goes to get fertiliser, you lathicharge on him to shoo him away without fertiliser.
One thing is clear, is that your government is ignoring the farmers' plight and does not listen to the voice of labourers. We know that your government is of big industrialists. Your government is of big people, of suit and boot, we understand that.
