The farmers in the bordering districts of Chhattisgarh had been inviting quite a bit of attention from their counterparts in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand for a decade now.
The attention of the farmers in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand is drawn towards the prosperity of farmers in the villages in Chhattisgarh which they had never witnessed in their respective states.
Consider a farmer named Rajesh residing in a village near Wadrafnagar who has barely five acres of land and an entire family with two brothers to feed.
In contract. about 17 kms from Wadrafnagar starts the UP border were Rajesh’s maternal in-law has 8 acres of land in Chainpur but is surprised at the productivity at the former’s farm in Chhattisgarh despite owing less land than him.
Rajesh says just a decade back, his plight was like his maternal in-law who had still not been able to make progress despite owing a higher
quantum of agricultural land
than him.
He said that it’s not just his success story about achieving higher agricultural yields in his village but about all the other farmers in the region who have achieved high agricultural productivity on their land.
Rajesh informed that the State government had been providing loans at one per cent interest rate besides irrigational facilities to the farmers.
‘We are also happy that the family receives 35 kgs of rice per month at Rs 1 to Rs 2 per kg. This apart, the family owns a ‘Smart Card’ which takes care of medical expenses upto Rs 30,000,’ he said.
Jharkhand is barely 50 kms away and Madhya Pradesh border is 35 kms from Wadrafnagar. Quite a few residents of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand are now settled in Wadrafnagar who arrived during the past decade and settled down in the town.This also resulted in rise in population of migrants in Wadrafnagar.
Jaiprakash Jaiswal, a resident of Wadrafnagar said that the reason behind migration of people from UP and Jharkhand to Chhattisgarh is on account of their seeing the latter as the destination to ensure a bright future.
This apart , the migrants feel they will be able to lead a peaceful life in the bordering town of Chhattisgarh. A number of residents of UP and Jharkhand had received prosperity by crrossing over to Chhattisgarh, he stated.
There are many children of residents in UP and Jharkhand who are studying in schools in Chhattisagarh.
The residents of Wadrafnagar inform that their town has better roads than those in other states.The roads to the rural pockets from Wadrafnagar has good connectivity and the lanes of colonies in Wadrafnagar have been concretised.
In terms of power supply also, Chhattisgarh is faring better then other States, they added.