The government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the biggest well wisher of farmers. The farm bills passed in the parliament will bring about a revolutionary change in the condition and future of farmers. The system facilitated through these bills is such that the farmers will be able to sell their produce for good rates either in the Mandi or outside. The profit which the middlemen used to pocket will not be earned by the farmers as the role of middlemen has been eradicated, opined chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, the CM said that some people are trying to misguide and instigate the farmers. “The farmers are being lied to but farmers should themselves understand these agricultural reforms. They know very well that the PM’s attitude has always been in favour of farmers’ welfare. It is this thought which has guided these reforms,” said Rawat.
Recalling the PM’s works in the interest of farmers, he said that when Modi was the CM of Gujarat, he had ensured regular and assured electricity supply for seven hours daily for the farmers. Even after becoming the PM, the farmers have remained among his top priorities. “Under the Modi government the top priority has been accorded to villages, poor and farmers. The budget of the Agriculture minister under the UPA government in 2009 was only Rs 12,000 crore which has now been increased to Rs 1,34,000 crore. In the past, the Centre had never spent Rs 75,000 crore on the welfare of farmers in a year but the Modi government made this possible. A sum of Rs 92,000 crore has reached the accounts of farmers through DBT under the PM Kisan Yojana so far. Recently, the Modi government announced a package of Rs one lakh crore for agricultural infrastructure. During the UPA government’s tenure, farmers used to get up to Rs eight lakh crore loan whereas now Rs 15 lakh crore loan is being provided every year to farmers. The Swaminathan commission had made important recommendations for agricultural development during the UPA’s term but these were not implemented then. The Modi government has not only implemented these recommendations but added more provisions to it to ensure the welfare of farmers,” said the CM.
Rawat said that the Modi government has ensured double benefit to the farmers. If they sell their produce in the Mandi, they will be paid according to higher MSP. If they sell outside the Mandi, they will get higher prices and technical benefit, he added.