Describing Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s fast to press for a special package to aid natural calamity-hit farmers as mere drama, the State Congress unit on Thursday claimed that the Centre disbursed adequate funds to the State for compensating peasants.
“The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance regime sanctioned `341 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund in a couple of installments, while the ruling BJP is realising `100 crore per annum from ryots after taking 5 per cent purchase tax on wheat and paddy from the Food Corporation of India,” Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee Spokesman Abhay Dubey told media here.
The State Government is recovering `33,381.68 crore from taxpayers while the regime is receiving `27,000 crore as central grant, he said, adding that the Government could have diverted the amount to provide succour to the hapless riots.
“Chouhan is befooling people by furnishing erroneous details. The Congress will unmask the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues. He is also misleading on the issue of Madhya Pradesh’s basmati rice not being given due recognition,” Dubey said.
Urging distribution of `2,000 crore to affected farmers, another Congress Spokesman Ravi Saxena alleged that the BJP regime did not distribute `571 crore when the peasants were affected by frost and hail in 2012.
Questioning the fast, Saxena said on one hand the BJP is lambasting Aam Aadmi Party under-President and Delhi’s former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his sit-in and agitation while on the other, Chouhan himself is following the same path.
“These are double standards,” he pointed out.
Alleging that a ryot committed suicide in Sehore District after his crop was damaged by frost and hail, Saxena urged distribution of insurance amounts to farmers.