Perturbed over debt-ridden farmers committing suicide in the state, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has written an open letter to the farmers while averring that aware as his government is of their plight, corrective steps are being taken. He wrote that his government is concerned over farming yielding less in terms of returns than the cost involved in the agricultural production. Invoking the Prime Minister Narendra Modi having pledged to double the farmers’ income by 2022, CM said that his government is committed to achieve the target.
He mentioned that his government is trying to develop a system to supervise the agricultural process from the stage of seeds to the markets by which the farmers would get better price of their produce. Besides, the state government has decided to provide Rs one lakh as loan at two percent interest rate to the farmers to help them meet the costs and get value addition of their produce, he said, adding that the welfare departments are being unified so as to spare the farmers the trouble of moving from department to department seeking financial help or technical support.
CM further wrote that his government is all set to bring a nursery act to ensure that the nursery owners do everything to maintain the quality of the saplings they sell to the farmers. They would be held accountable in case the saplings they sell fail to sprout the way they should, CM said.
The requirement from agriculture undergoing a sea change, the State Government has decided to appoint field officers at the nyaya panchayat levels. Earlier, things were being assessed at the tehsil levels, resulting in the farmers not getting the right kind of compensation for the crops either lost or damaged. This aside, the state government would do audit of the agricultural lands once in three months, CM wrote, adding that to ensure accountability, the state government has assigned a secretary level officer to supervise things at regular intervals.
Referring to the PM having made it clear that the food producers must be left happy, CM wrote that his government is executing a string of schemes like Krishi Sichai Yojna (agriculture irrigation scheme), Prime Minister crop insurance scheme, soil health card, traditional agriculture development scheme, neem cover urea and unified national market.
All the departments concerned are coordinating among themselves to make such schemes successful. He also mentioned his government’s decision to hike minimum support price (MSP) of several agricultural produces. He also assured the farmers that his government is working round the clock to address the grievances of the farmers. He asked them to report the CM office in case the officials concerned are found sitting on their complaints. The state government would go out of its way to keep the producers of the food happy, he assured.