All that was discussed in the House through the day
The estimated number of incidences and mortality of cancer cases are increasing in the country, Bharati Pawar, Union minister of state for Health and Family Welfare, told Lok Sabha. Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of cancer cases in 2020, according to the data presented by the ministry.
Pawar quoted the data from Indian Council of Medical Research’s Cancer Registry Data Report on National Cancer Registry Programme Report, 2020. ICMR is a medical research body.
There were 201,319 cancer cases in UP, followed by Maharashtra with 116,121 cases, Pawar said.
Sanction of Electric Buses
There are 425 electric and hybrid buses deployed across the country that were sanctioned under the first phase of the FAME India Scheme, Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister Of State For Heavy Industries told the Rajya Sabha.
The scheme encourages the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles.
The ministry sanctioned 6,315 e-buses to 65 cities, state transport undertaking, central transport undertaking and state government entities across the country under phase II of the scheme.
No wheat crisis in the country
India produces wheat more than its domestic requirement so there is no wheat crisis, Narendra Tomar, minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, told the Rajya Sabha July 22, 2022.
As per the third advance estimate, wheat production has been 106.41 million tonnes during 2021-22. This is above the average production of 103.89 million tonnes in the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21), the minister said.
India’s position in Global Hunger Index
India ranked 101 out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2021-22. The country scored 27.5 in the report prepared by Welthungerhilfe, a German non-profit, and Concern Worldwide, an Irish aid and humanitarian agency.
The index does not reflect the true picture as it has a flawed measure of hunger, Smriti Irani, minister of Women And Child Development, told the Lok Sabha.
The index is based on four indicators — undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality, the minister said.
The report should not be taken at face value as it is neither appropriate nor representative of hunger prevalent in a country, Irani added.
Pneumonia cases
Pneumonia is the second-highest cause of mortality under the age of five years, Union health minister Pawar told Lok Sabha. The disease contributed to 16.2 per cent of deaths in that age group, as per the Cause of Death Statistics report of Registrar General India (2015-17).
Increase in COVID-19 cases
The trajectory of COVID-19 cases in some states and Union territories has been witnessing an increasing trend through May, 2022, Pawar told Lok Sabha.
Kerala has reported the highest number of cases, with 160,754 cases from April 1, 2022 to July 18, 2022.
Protecting crops from heatwave
Almost 2,000 high-yielding and stress-tolerant varieties of field crops and hybrids have been released through 2022.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Agriculture, released 1,956 varieties through its National Agricultural Research System.
Of these, 1,633 varieties are climate resilience for one or the other biotic and abiotic stress. Thirty-six have been specially bred for heat stress/high-temperature tolerance, agriculture minister Tomar told the Rajya Sabha.
ICAR has also developed 87 Nutrition Rich crop cultivars.
Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (ICAR-CRIDA) has also formulated contingency plans for 650 districts to mitigate the impact of weather-related challenges.
Income of Farm Households
An agricultural household earns Rs 10,218 approximately in a month on average, Tomar told Rajya Sabha.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation conducted a situation assessment survey of agricultural households during the National Sample Survey (NSS) 77th round. NSS is responsible for conducting large-scale sample surveys in India.
The survey for January 2019- December 2019 referenced the agricultural year July 2018- June 2019 in the rural areas of the country.
Debt-Income Ratio of Farmers
From July 2018 to June 2019, the average monthly income per agricultural household was Rs 8,337, with a debt of Rs 7,412, Tomar told the Rajya Sabha.
The average monthly income and average farmers’ debt are not maintained monthly. However, the Government of India conducted a survey through the National Sample Survey Office on ‘Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India’.
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