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Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has informed Parliament that the government has “no record” of the deaths of the farmers’ who camped out at Delhi borders protesting against the now repealed three farm laws.
In a written reply to the Opposition’s query on whether the Centre will grant financial assistance to the families of the farmers who lost their lives during the year-long protest, Union Minister Tomar said, “Ministry of Agriculture has no record in the mater and hence the question does not arise.”
Farmer leaders maintain that over 700 farmers perished while protesting against the contentious agri laws at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders since November 2020.
The deaths were chiefly due to harsh weather, illness contracted from unhygienic conditions, and suicide.
Meanwhile, the protesting farmers are standing firm on their demands, with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) calling on the government to come to the table and discuss all pending issues with farm leaders.
Reacting To Tomars reply, This is farmers’ insult. More than 700 farmers lost their lives during protests against 3 farm laws. How can Centre say that they don’t have any record of it?, Leader of Opposition Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge
“If Govt doesn’t have a record of 700 people then how they had collected data of lakhs of people during pandemic. Over 50 lakh people lost their lives due to #COVID19 in the last 2 years but according to govt, only 4 lakh people died due to the virus,” Mallikarjun Kharge added further.
