Give direct benefit transfer to farmers to stop suicides: BJP MP Shanta Kumar to PM

BJP leader Shanta Kumar today said he has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to start giving direct income support to farmers of the country so that incidents of suicide by peasants can be prevented.

"Farmers are so neglected that over 3.5 lakh have committed suicide and such news is pouring in daily. It is a matter of great concern, the former Union minister told media-persons here today.

Kumar, the BJP MP from Kangra, said direct income support was one of the recommendations made by a committee chaired by him. The panel was constituted by the Modi governmentand agriculture scientist Ashok Gulati was also a member, he said.

The BJP MP said the panel's report was submitted in 2015 but not implemented till date even though the committee discussed it with the prime minister himself. The panel will meet the prime minister again in the next parliament session, he added.

The committee had suggested basic changes in public the distribution, which is bedevilled with rampant corruption, he said.

The prime minister also wants that direct benefits must go into the bank accounts of beneficiaries, Kumar said. If direct benefit transfer is implemented, the beneficiaries shall be helped 100 percent, he added.

The BJP MP said that in a letter to Modi, he has said that through direct support, corruption in PDS will vanish and farmers will get around Rs 30,000 crore every year.

Similarly the fertiliser subsidy of around Rs 70,000 crore will too go it the accounts of beneficiaries, he added.

Kumar said he had written the letter to the prime minister to help farmers so that suicides could be stopped. Though, under Modi's leadership many schemes were launched to double the income of farmers, the results will take time, while the farmer community needs help today, he said.

I am happy that the government of Telangana has decided to give Rs 8,000 per acre per year to farmers as per our report, he said.

Many countries are of the view that direct financial benefits need to be given to farmers to keep them attached to their work, he said.

The income of government and other employees has increased 120 t0 150 fold but that of farmers has just risen 19 times in past 50 years, he said. Among the poor people in the country, 80 per cent are farmers, he said.

Kumar also advocated that only state governments should procure food grains for buffer stock.