No Farmers Death Data during protest, So No question of aid: Centre

New Delhi : The Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar today made statement in parliament saying that the government has “no record” of the deaths of the farmers who were protesting the three contentious laws – that have now been canceled – over the last one year.

When opposition asked about the data of the farmers who died during the protest and what the government is planning to give any financial aide to the affected family. The Minister replied in Lok Sabha, “Ministry of Agriculture has no record in the matter, and hence the question does not arise.”

More than 700 farmers have died, opposition and farmer leaders have said, during the year-long protests at Delhi borders against the contentious laws that were canceled on Monday in parliament in one of the fastest repeals the country has recently seen.

This was just ten days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered an “apology to the nation”, making the big repeal announcement. “While apologizing to the nation, I want to say with a sincere and pure heart that maybe something was lacking in our tapasya (dedication) that we could not explain the truth to some of our farmer brothers,” PM Modi said last month. He also requested the farmers to return to their homes.

While the rollback has taken place in parliament, as sought by the protesters, farmers are now pressuring the centre for assurance on the minimum support price for their produce.

The government has sought names of representatives from the protesting farm unions for a panel proposed by the Prime Minister to hold talks.

Samyukt Kissan Morcha leader Darshan Pal told news agency PTI on Tuesday, that “The Centre has asked for five names from SKM for the committee that will deliberate on the issue of minimum support price (MSP) for crops. We have not yet decided on the names. We will decide this in our December 4 meeting.”