india

Updated: Jul 17, 2019 21:53 IST

Of the 12 crore who have been given MGNREGA cards, 11 crore have linked their Aadhaar cards and seven crore have linked their bank cards, union agriculture and rural development minister Narendra Singh Tomar told Parliament on Wednesday. Tomar was responding to the arguments put up by members during the discussion for demand for grants of the ministry.

“We are also introducing geo-tagging for MGNREGA cards. Ideally, the scheme should not go on forever, as we need to eradicate poverty,” Tomar said. The demand for grant was passed by the Lok Sabha.

Tomar also said that under the Gramin Sadak Yojana, which was initiated by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 31,000 km of roads have been built already, and the second phase aims to build 50,000 km, while the third phase will cover 1.5 lakh km.

He added that soil health cards and zero budget farming are some of the reasons why educated people are taking to farming these days. The ministry, he said, is working on making the Fasal Bima Yojana more widespread and on ensuring a Kisan Credit Card to all farmers. “Has any government tried to put Rs 87,000 crore in the pockets of farmers,” he said.

Congress’s floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, in reply, said that most of the scheme are UPA-era ones. BJD’s Bhartruhari Mahtab said that while women did half the work in all farms, only 14% women owned land. “What steps are the ministry is taking to remove patriarchy in farming,” he asked.

After the rural development ministry’s demands for grants was passed, the House took up the demands for grants in ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Minister of state Kiren Rijiju said that junior athletes will be given appropriate funds and training of security forces and the Central Armed Forces will be done along with that of athletes. “A pension system will be introduced for former athletes and the government will look into their needs,” he said.

Congress MP Manickram Tagore said that substance abuse should be taken seriously, while NPP MP Agatha Sangma said that because of the lack of infrastructure in the Northeast, athletes there do not win enough medals. “Meghalaya will host the 39th National Games in 2022, and over 10,000 athletes will participate,” she said.

TMC MP Prasun Banerjee, a footballer and Arjuna Awardee says that a lack of coordination between various autonomous sports bodies should be checked. He added that the forming of the National Sports Education Board is a welcome move, sports policy should be decided by former sportsmen.

“Roti and sabji won’t get you World Cup. You are giving them money after money. But give them money to win,” he said while speaking on the plight of the Indian football team.