Centre ignoring states’ plea on agrarian crisis, says Cong

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 20

AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi today slammed the Centre for not paying a heed to the demand of the states for saving them from the agrarian crisis.

Talking to the media here today, Singhvi said: “While the BJP-led NDA has written off loans to the tune of Rs 1.54 lakh crore of large business houses, it is not paying heed to the plight of the farming community. Tamil Nadu which has suffered a famine-like situation too has not got the due support. While an amount of Rs 39,500 crore was sought by the state, only one-third of it was paid.”

Coming to Punjab, the Rajya Sabha MP said: “Ever since Capt Amarinder Singh became the CM, he too has been trying to fulfil the promises he had made to the people. For this, he sought assistance from the Centre. He has already met the Union Finance Minister twice and even reached out to the PM.”

Over the EVM row, the party spokesperson only said: “We have sought the use of VVPAT-enabled machines in 2019. It is after our persistent demand that the Centre has now released a budget of Rs 4,000 crore for the purpose. Earlier, there was an assurance of 16 lakh VVPAT machines in 2017, but the ECI was able to provide only 55,000. The use of these machines will surely help restore the confidence of voters in the process,” he said.