The Janata Dal (United) today demanded central assistance to provide relief to farmers in Bihar who are facing problems in Kharif...

The Janata Dal (United) today demanded central assistance to provide relief to farmers in Bihar who are facing problems in Kharif sowing due to deficient rains. "Bihar is facing a drought-like situation," said JD(U) MP Ramnath Thakur while raising the demand during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha. Highlighting the plight of farmers due to deficient rains, he said they are not able to sow crops and there is also a shortage of fodder for livestock.

Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha

According to him, borewells have also been affected because of drop in water level in several parts of the state.  He demanded that the Centre immediately send a team in Bihar to assess the situation and also provide financial assistance for providing relief. Congress member M V Rajeev Gowda demanded government intervention to end the strike called by truckers. He said transportation of goods was being affected due to the strike. Gowda said the problem is due to problems in implementation of e-way bill under the GST.

Ram Vichar Netam of BJP spoke about the problems faced by people in Chhattisgarh due to movement of elephants. He said 200 people have lost lives and thousands injured due to attack by elephants. Netam said the present compensation of Rs 2 lakh given to families of people killed in elephant attacks is too little and should be enhanced. Bhupender Yadav (BJP) highlighted the importance of water management in the wake of a recent report by Niti Aayog, while K G Kenye (NPF) raised the issue of supply of adulterated fish, vegetables and fruits in Nagaland.

Congress member M V Rajeev Gowda

Besides 16 Zero Hour mentions, the House also took up 10 special mentions. As part of his special mention, Sukhram Singh Yadav (SP) demanded that the Azamgarh Railway Station be renamed after noted Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi. Vijila Sathyananth (AIADMK) made a demand to upgrade the ESIC Hospital at Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu to 100 beds from the current 50 and also fill up vacancies on water footings to ease problems faced by labourers. Prasanna Acharya (BJD) demanded establishment of a permanent bench of the Odisha High Court in western part of the state.