Highlighting “exorbitant hike” in prices of cattle and poultry feed, TMC MP Saayoni Ghosh attacked the BJP in Lok Sabha Monday saying although the party talks about cows but they have failed to provide enough fodder or protect them from lumpy cow disease infection. Participating in a debate on the demands for grants for the Ministry of Fishing, Animal Husbandry and Dairy, the TMC’s Jadavpur MP said wholesale fodder inflation hovering between 25% and 28.6% in the last two to three years. “What will a farmer, his family and cattle eat. This forces farmers to sell their cattle, and pushes them eventually to suicide,” she said, adding, “In the last 10 years, 1,12,000 farmers have died by suicide.” “Our farmers worship their cattle and crops like mother and bow down to the land, which they plough. But does this major sector get support from the government?” she said. “They talk about gau-raksha (protecting cows), people should know there is a fodder crisis in India,” she said, adding that the minister has admitted there is a fodder shortage in a written reply. “It means cows are dying without food in government-owned gaushalas (cowsheds), especially in BJP-ruled states,” she said. “If you ask farmers of the country, they will just reply — Chai se shuru hui thi sarkar, gaay par atak gayi, aur vikas ki mausi das saal mein raste mein bhatak gayi. (The government started with tea, got stuck on cow and development lost direction in the last 10 years.),” she said.Ghosh said 32.7 lakh cattle got infected with lumpy cow disease, and 2.4 lakh cattle heads died within months. “They say the cow is their mother, but they can't protect it,” she said. “India is at the first position in milk production, but since the government has not been able to bridge the gaps, we have turned into an importer. Price of milk has gone up by 55% in last 10 years,” she said. Stressing on the need to increase allocation for fisheries, she said, “The government might have an allergy to the word Manipur but the fact remains that 1.5 years of lack of governance in the state has led to endangering fish species in the Loktak lake.” BJP MP Dushyant Singh lauded budgetary grants for the ministry, and said the PM took measures to double farmers’ income. He said Modi brought a “Blue Revolution” to promote fisheries and milk production has increased by 57%.
