1 Uncorrected/ Not for publication- 08.12.2009 SSS-AKG/11.00/1A ...

137Uncorrected/ Not for publication- 08.12.2009and, above all, to insulate the weakest and most disadvantaged sectionsof the society from all the issues of price rise that have been spokenabout by the speaker before me and that the entire country is agitatedabout. However, Sir, at the same time, I would urge this House,through you, to take a look at the facts so that we may, in anatmosphere of calm, reasonableness decide and discuss together howbest this problem should be addressed. First of all, Sir, the hon.Member who spoke before me was very passionate and emotional andgave a great deal of details and statistics. But I was surprised to findthat he completely neglected to mention that, particularly, over the lastyear and also in recent times, 27 out of 36 meteorological districts in thiscountry have been affected by moderate to severe drought. Also, Sir,the people of my State and the people of Karnataka have beendevastated by floods. The loss of lives, the loss of livestock, the loss ofcrops, the loss of agriculture is incalculable. It appears to me that thehon. Member was speaking in a vacuum. Naturally in an atmospherewhere you are concerned, your immediate instinct would be to addressthose issues to the Government and that is as it should be, that shouldbe reasonable. But we should look at the broader picture. What is thisGovernment battling with? This Government is not sitting upon amountain of plenty and refusing to do its job. The fact of the matter iswe have been hit hard; 27 out of 36 meteorological districts havemoderate to severe drought in the country, while in such a large countryas India, the other districts, particularly in Karnataka, to a lesser extentin Tamil Nadu and to a large extent in Andhra Pradesh also have beendevastated by floods.