Congress and Left MPs from Kerala on Wednesday accused the government of not heeding to the plight of rubber growers and demanded that an income stabilisation fund be set up to protect them.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, NK Premachandran of the Revolutionary Socialist Party said 11 lakh small rubber growers had been badly hit by the decline in rubber prices to Rs 120/kg from Rs 240/kg a few years ago. “Ribber has become cheaper than paper,” said an MP.
He was joined by agitated Congress and Left MPs from Kerala, who said they had met the Commerce Minister and had given a representation, but there has been no response so far. They wanted to know why the Minister concerned was not present in the House.
After the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s intervention, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, said this was an important issue and assured the House that he would request the Commerce Minister to hold a meeting with Kerala MPs soon.
– The Hindu
