The Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday began a discussion on an adjournment motion over an agitation by peasants in the state last month during which six farmers were killed in police firing in Mandsaur district on June 6.
The discussion could not complete on Tuesday, as there were 47 adjournment notices on the same issue. The House adjourned at around 8 pm and the speaker declared that the discussion would continue on Wednesday. The address of leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh to participate in the debate would come on Wednesday and it would be followed by reply from the Chief Minister.
Initiating a discussion on the issue, Govind Singh (Congress) said tillers were compelled to launch an agitation owing to the fact that agriculture could not be made a profitable profession in spite of announcements by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the past years.
''Minimum support prices for various commodities remained unchanged in the past three years. Input cost of agriculture such as prices of seeds, equipment, etc escalated. On the other hand, prices of produce went down,'' he said.
''Madhya Pradesh is the second state after Uttar Pradesh in the country where most number of farmers are reeling under debt. Nearly 77.41 lakh peasants are under debt in the state. In the past 7-8 months, 818 ryots committed suicide,'' said Singh.
He said agriculturists started the protest over their genuine demands but the regime made no efforts to meet them. On the contrary, it invited an organisation which was not active in the movement and made announcements of meeting farmers' demands to earn plaudits.
''later, when the agitation intensified, the Chief Minister directed to suppress the protest. The dispensation deserves blame for the subsequent consequences. Peasants were shot at in stomach, back and neck although court directives clearly stipulate that police must fire below the waist to control a violent agitation.
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MP Assembly commences discussion on farmers' issue
Moreover, the Home Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) state president wrongfully claimed that police had not opened fire," alleged Dr Singh while lambasting the dispensation for not being able to prevent the happenings.
Earlier, soon after the Question Hour ended, leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh urged Speaker Sitasaran Sharma to admit an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition Congress vis--vis the issue and initiate a discussion. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan described the issue as important and agreed that the House should discuss it.
Subsequently, the Speaker completed other business listed on the agenda except the calling attention notices and started the discussion. A total of 47 adjournment notices were received on the issue. Sharma read out the notice submitted by Govind Singh. Home Minister Bhoopendra Singh read out the regime's response while accepting the notice for discussion.