Congress warns of privilege motion against government on rubber farmers

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge today threatened to bring a privilege motion against the government for not urgently convening a meeting with Kerala MPs to discuss the sad plight of rubber-growers in the state, hit by falling prices.

The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha during Zero Hour by Anto Antony (Cong) who demanded that the Centre should either ban the import of rubber or hike import duties to protect the local farmers.

His mention found support from many other MPs, especially from Kerala which is the largest producer of rubber in the country.

Making an intervention, Kharge said the government had not convened a meeting of Kerala MPs yet despite giving an assurance in the previous session of Parliament.

Kharge and other members said the Parliamentary Affairs Minister had in the Winter Session assured them that he would ask the minister concerned to call a meeting of members from Kerala, but that has not happened yet.

Kharge said his party could move a privilege motion if the government did not respond soon.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan assured the members that she would speak to the minister about this.

The consistently falling rubber prices, the members said, had caused a drastic fall in the trade of the commodity as traders shied from dealing in it for the fear of losses. They also blamed rubber imports for such a situation.