NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed heated arguments between the Treasury and Opposition benches over the issue of farm loan waivers with Speaker Om Birla making an intervention and telling the members that advances under the Kisan Credit Card scheme are not written off.

While asking a supplementary, NCP member Supriya Sule sought to know whether the government has any plans to waive off the loans given to the farmers under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme.

Replying to the question, Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said it was for the first time in last so many decades that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the scheme to fishermen and dairy farmers as the KCC was earlier confined only to agricultural farmers.

He said its main aim is to provide small farmers institutional credit up to Rs 1.6 lakh without any collateral.

Besides, Rupala said, if a farmer repays the loan promptly, he or she would get three per cent interest subversion from the central government and some state governments too provide interest subversion up to four per cent to the KCC borrowers.

So, virtually a farmer is not paying any interest on his loan if it is paid on time, he said.

Sule and other opposition members then said the minister was not giving the answer to the specific question on whether the government was planning to waive off the KCC loans taken by the farmers, to which Rupala reacting strongly.

He said the opposition was only providing a lip service and the actual welfare work for farmers is being done by Prime Minister Modi.

When other opposition members also protested, the Speaker tried to calm them down by saying that as per his knowledge, the loans given under the KCC are never waived off.

Earlier, DMK members protested strongly when Union Minister of State for Fisheries and Animal Husbandry L Murugan said the Modi government has been pursuing welfare schemes as per the BJP election manifesto while some political parties and their state governments were not doing so.

DMK members, led by its leader T R Baalu, protested the remarks made by Murugan, who hails from Tamil Nadu.

Baalu accused Murugan of playing politics rather than properly replying to a bonafide question related to fishermen.

The speaker then told the DMK members that the minister has neither named any political party nor any state and that they should not be offended.

NEW DELHI: BJP leader from West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari Tuesday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to implement the citizenship law CAA at the earliest, with the latter assuring him that rules regarding it will be framed after the Covid precaution dose vaccination exercise is over.

The framing of rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will pave the way for its implementation.

Passed by Parliament in December 2019, the Act is yet to be rolled out due to the absence of rules.

The government has cited the outbreak of pandemic for not framing them so far.

Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, told reporters after meeting Shah that he also handed him a list of nearly 100 Trinamool Congress leaders allegedly involved in the recruitment scam in which former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee has been arrested.

Seeking a wider probe to expose everyone involved in the scandal, Adhikari gave the home minister even letterheads of some TMC leaders, including MLAs, that were purportedly used for recommending certain names for jobs by allegedly taking bribes.

He tweeted after meeting Shah, “It’s an honour for me to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah for 45 minutes at his office in Parliament. I briefed him how WB Govt is completely mired in corrupt activities such as the teachers recruitment scam. Also requested him to implement CAA at the earliest.”

Adhikari told reporters that the issue of CAA, slammed by critics for its alleged anti-Muslim bias, implementation is very critical for West Bengal where a large number of people who can benefit from its provisions.

The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, and the Act was notified within 24 hours on December 12.

In May, while addressing a rally in Bengal, Shah had said that the law would be implemented once the Covid pandemic ends.

There is a view that the government is treading cautiously on the matter after the Act drew saw protests in different parts of the country.

It seeks to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities of neighbouring countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who had come to India by December 31, 2014.

Speaking to reporters, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumder also hit out at TMC leader and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging that without indications from her the recruitment scam could not have happened.

“It is an organised crime. There was a ‘cut money food chain’ and some people would be based in every district to pick money and channel it through the party (TMC) organisation,” he alleged.

Adhikari said careers of around 80-90 lakh teacher job aspirants were ruined by the scam. They have remained unemployed due to this, he said.

BHATKAL: Four people from a single family were buried alive in a landslide in Bhatkal town on Tuesday morning. The landslide happened following heavy rain which lashed the district after a gap of two weeks causing damage to hundreds of houses. The deceased have been identified as Lakshminarayana Naik (60), Lakshmi Naik (45), their son Narayan Naik (38) and Praveen Ramakrishna Naik, nephew of Lakshminarayana Naik. The hillock that caved in slowed down relief and rescue operations.

Residents of Bhatkal and surrounding villages spent the night in fear as the taluk recorded 533 mm rainfall. “The impact of the rainfall was such that many of us spent the night worrying about our safety,” said Inayath, a local resident. The landslide occurred at 3 am in the morning, but it took 11 hours to dig out the bodies. Bhatkal MLA Sunil Naik had to walk for miles to reach the affected place as the roads were blocked.  

Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner, Mullai Muhilan said the incident was unfortunate as Bhatkal has not been affected by floods before. “The waterlogging is due to heavy rainfall and those affected by floods have been shifted to relief centres. At present, over 300 people have taken shelter in relief centres,” he said. “There is no loss of life due to floods. The deaths were due to the landslide. NDRF, SDRF and a few naval experts have been deployed at some vulnerable places. The next three days are crucial as a red alert has been issued for Uttara Kannada district,” he added.

Narayan Naik, brother of Lakshmi Naik, said, “There was a loud noise. We came out and saw a heap of mud and realised that it was a landslide. Since it was massive, we could not do much. We had to wait for rescue operations.”

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brother Prahlad Modi, who is also the vice president of All India Fair Price Shop Dealers’ Federation, on Tuesday staged a dharna here with various demands of the organisation.

Prahlad along with several other members of the All India Fair Price Shop Dealers’ Federation (AIFPSDF) gathered at Jantar Mantar, holding banners and raising slogans.

“A delegation of AIFPSDF will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, listing our long-standing demands for the sake of our survival. With the current situation of hike in the cost of living and overhead expenditures for running shops, a raise of mere 20 paise per kg in our margin is a cruel joke. We request the Union government to grant us relief and end our financial miseries,” Prahlad said.

He further stated that AIFPSDF will hold a national executive meeting on Wednesday and based on that, their next course of action will be decided.

AIFPSDF national general secretary Biswambhar Basu told PTI that they also plan to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday.

The AIFPSDF has been demanding compensation for loss on rice, wheat and sugar, and also for edible oil and pulses to be supplied through fair price shops.

It has also demanded that the ‘West Bengal Ration Model’ of free distribution be implemented across the country.

Further, the members said all due margins for all the states, including Jammu and Kashmir, should be reimbursed immediately.

“We also demand that edible oil, pulses and LPG gas cylinders be supplied through fair price shops. Rural areas’ fair price shop dealers should be allowed to function as direct procurement agents for rice and wheat. Our demands were also raised by TMC MP Sougata Roy in Parliament,”” Basu said, adding that their protests will continue until their demands are met.

India has been investing heavily in infrastructure projects in Maldives. “Till now India has extended $2.8 billion worth of financial aid to Maldives, which includes Letters of Credit (LOC) and currency exchange. Despite the pandemic, there was 31 per cent increase in trade between India and Maldives in 2021 ($330 million) compared to 2020,” said Munu Munawar, Indian High Commissioner to Male.

Modi and Solih jointly launched the Greater Male Connectivity Project — the largest infrastructure project in Maldives. A 6.74-km-long bridge, connecting Male to Villingli, Gulhifahlu and Thilahfushi, will be built at a cost of $500. India is funding the project.

Besides announcing an LOC worth $100 to ensure that all ongoing projects complete on time, Modi reviewed construction of 4,000 social housing units in Greater Male. The units are funded under Exim Bank of India’s buyers credit finance of $227 million.

“India-Maldives partnership is not only working in the interest of the citizens of both countries but is also becoming a source of peace, stability and prosperity for the region. India has been and will continue to be the first responder in any need or crisis in Maldives,” the PM said.

AHMEDABAD: As political parties gear up to fight the upcoming Assembly polls in the state, alcohol and drugs consumption is snowballing into a major issue. The Gujarat Congress staged a ‘dharna’ on Tuesday on the issue of liquor ban.

The recent hooch tragedy in the BJP-ruled state, wherein 50 people died and many fell ill after consuming spurious liquor, has brought embarrassment to the state leadership. Arvind Kejriwal latched on to the issue in his last two public addresses in the state.

“People of Gujarat have two options — they will get spurious liquor if they vote for them (BJP) or they will get employment if they vote for us,” he said on Monday. He also visited the kin of the victims of the hooch tragedy and sought compensation for them. 

Congress leaders have also started targeting the BJP on the illicit trade. Rahul Gandhi recently posted on social media figures of three drug recoveries allegedly worth around Rs 22,000 crore at Mundra port since September 2021 and questioned the law and order situation.

The Opposition’s attacks, and public anger over the menace, have prompted BJP to get into a damage control mode. Its state spokesperson Yamal Vyas said, “Gujarat ATS is doing a good job. Along with the Coast Guard, they have filed over 400 cases under the NDPS Act in six months. When Gujarat Police is doing such good work, what is the problem of Congress?”

AAP releases first list of 10 candidates

The AAP on Tuesday announced its first list of 10 candidates for Gujarat Assembly poll to be held in December. While Sagar Rabari has got Bechraji ticket, Arjun Rathwa will contest from Chhota Udaipur and Vashram Sagathia has got Rajkot Rural seat. Ram Dhaduk, Rajendra Solanki and Bhema Chaudhary will fight from Kamrej (Surat), Bardoli and Deodar, respectively.