The government on Tuesday said it has "no record" on the number of farmers who died during the year-long agitation demanding repeal of the three farm laws and hence there was no question of providing financial assistance to anyone.
"The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare has no record in the matter and hence the question does not arise," Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said this in reply to questions on 'Agitation of Farm Laws' raised by a bunch of MPs in the Lok Sabha.
In the earlier part of this unstarred question, the reply had detailed how the government had held 11 rounds of discussions with the farm leaders to dissolve the situation and also listed a number of steps that it has taken to the question about "whether the Government proposes to protect farmers' interests and implement support price for agricultural produce."
Apart from the main demand of repeal of the three contentious laws - that have now been officially repealed by the Parliament - more than a year-long agitation has demanded the withdrawal of cases against the farmers during the time of the agitation and paying compensation to and rehabilitation of the families of the martyred farmers, who lost their lives during the same time.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha that has spearheaded the agitation has claimed that about 700 farmers have lost their lives during the agitation since last year.
With Inputs from IANS
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