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MP govt to give Rs 1 crore to kin of security personnel killed in line of duty
CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s announcement came during his speech in the assembly at the end of discussions on the farmer unrest in the state. He said farmers don’t want loan waiver instead they want good value for their produce.
Madhya Pradesh government will provide Rs 1 crore compensation to families of security personnel who get killed in line of duty, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Wednesday.
“For the family of a martyr, our government provides Rs 25 lakh compensation... We have also decided that whichever city the family of the martyr wants, we will provide them a house, a job to a family member, erect a statue of the martyr and name a road after him/her,” Chouhan said in the assembly.
“May God not let our security personnel get martyred, but if someone gets martyred in line of duty, state government will provide Rs 1 crore to his family… and they will get all the facilities we have announced earlier for such families,” he added.
Chouhan’s announcement came during his speech in the assembly at the end of discussions on the farmer unrest in the state. The Congress had moved an adjournment motion, seeking a discussion on the issues of the farmers, their agitation and other related issues.
Chouhan also explained why he had announced Rs 1 crore compensation for each of the families of the six farmers killed in police firing in Mandsaur in June.
“I could not sleep that night (June 6)... There were demands that I should announce Rs 50 lakh compensation. I felt only the families could truly feel what they were going through. So I decided that we should go out of our way to help these families.”
Chouhan said people would express condolences for some time, mourn their loss for one month, two months or three months. “But these families have to live on their own for life. So I decided that each family would be provided Rs 1 crore compensation.”
Commission to decide the input cost of crops
On farming issues, Chouhan said the state’s farmers do not want loan waiver, but good value for their produce. He said the state government has decided to set up an agricultural cost and marketing commission to decide the input cost of the crops, based on which farmers will be provided profitable support price.
He said the state government had succeeded in increasing the production of the crops of the state.
“Our next step is to get farmers good prices for produce. We have decided to open 378 kisan bazaars (farmer markets) across the state where farmers can directly sell their produce without involvement of middlemen.” Chouhan said last year the state government had provided more than Rs 9,000 crore to farmers as compensation and insurance.
The CM rubbished allegations levelled by Ajay Singh, leader of opposition in the assembly.
On Singh’s allegation that the state government was not addressing the issue of farmer suicides in the state, Chouhan listed out the number of suicides by farmers since the 1990s and said they shouldn’t be politicised.
On Singh’s question why no FIR was filed in the Mandsaur police firing incident, Chouhan said after the inquiry commission presents its report, strict action will be taken against whosoever is found guilty. “But I do want to ask whether any FIR had been filed after Multai incident (in Betul district in which 18 farmers were killed in police firing in 1998)?”
Chouhan alleged that after state government accepted the demands of the farmers, it was Congress that fuelled the agitation. “... I saw videos where Congress leaders were seen inciting violence… Who were those people on roads covering their faces and ransacking properties and damaging vehicles? Who financed them? Who arranged food for them?”
Earlier, Singh had attacked the state government and charged it with failing to anticipate the violent farmer agitation in the state. “The chief minister had this illusion that farmers won’t agitate. I know he is a sensitive person and I appreciate him for that. He didn’t get feedback from his party or officers on this issue. Had he got proper feedback, the Mandsaur incident won’t have happened,” he said.
He dismissed the allegation that the Congress fuelled the agitation. Singh also claimed that post-mortem results showed there were no bullets in the bodies of the six farmers killed in the Mandsaur firing. “Had bullets been recovered, it would have been clear whether they were fired by police or anti-social elements.”
