Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday called on for efforts for comprehensive tapping of the development possibilities of country’s agriculture based economy’s strengthening.
Gadkari was speaking at a symposium organised by Deendayal Vichar Pravah Manch in Jabalpur on the topic ‘Possibilities of agriculture based industries in the development of Mahakoshal region.’ The symposium was presided by renowned
economist Professor Manohar Pandit while the programme was conducted by Rajendra Vajpayee.
He said the need of the hour is to promote crops that could be sowed on barren land for manufacturing of diesel besides organic agriculture and those vegetables that could be grown with lesser water.
Water, land and animals rationalise development should be done for providing base to the rural economy; this would develop entrepreneurship in the villages. By increasing the purchasing capacity of villagers, poor and farmer an era of ampleness and prosperity would come, he added.
Gadkari, a former national president of the BJP further said that due to lack of progress in the irrigation sector after the independence the agriculture sector lack behind, similarly the roads revolution could not come.
During the NDA regime when I raised the issue before the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee the planning commission skirted the issue by saying that roads are the subject of states.
Then I said that over 6 lakh villages are inaccessible and we are just giving logic of jurisdiction, then Vajpayee put on the time bound responsibility to the centre by formulating a programme and the Prime Minister Rural Road Scheme was launched. Similar readiness is needed for the irrigation, he added.
BJP Madhya Pradesh president and MP Narendra Singh Tomar said, “Top most priority has been given to the villages, poor and farmers during the nine years rule of the BJP in the state.
This has yielded good results and the agriculture arte of the state has registered an increase of 18.91 per cent. Round the clock electricity supply in the villages is paving way for the balance in agriculture and industries in rural areas.”