New Delhi : A day after commending the union budget as “pro-village, pro-poor and pro farmer”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested NDA MPs to ensure 100 per cent coverage of farmers under the new crop insurance scheme.
Modi’s eagerness about farmers accessing the Pradhan Manti Fasal Bima Yojana plan was evident on Tuesday morning when he mediated while parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu was addressing NDA MPs. Naidu was making a 60-point presentation on achievements of government, when Modi, who was not on the dais, got up and asked the MPs to take it up as a challenge to ensure 100 per cent coverage in their constituencies, according to sources.
The government, which had been accused of being anti-farmer when it tried to make changes to the land acquisition bill, views the scheme as a game-changer.
Sensing an unrest on PF withdrawal tax proposal, which has caused concern among the salaried middle class, finance minister Arun Jaitley told the MPs that it was aimed at incentivising pension and ensuring a security blanket in view of concerns over people not being adequately insured and pensioned. The announcement was also opposed by RSS-affiliated trade union BMS and Swadeshi Jagran Manch.
The Tuesday morning BJP parliamentary party was converted into an NDA meeting, but the Shiv Sena was not present due to a “communication gap”, sources said. Shiv Sena sources said the party got the message about the meeting “too late”.
Jaitley also said Government has enhanced public spending in critical areas to keep up the growth momentum in the context of global economic challenges.
