The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party have stepped up self-promotion activities in view of the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections. Chief Minister Harish Rawat who has been visiting various urban and rural areas of the state and interacting with locals was in Bazpur in Udham Singh Nagar to address a kisan rally on Monday. Reiterating that farmers will be given land ownership rights irrespective of the category of the land they occupy, Rawat directed the district magistrate to organise camps for expediting this task.
Addressing the gathering, Rawat averred that the State Government is working on developmental works considering all sections of society. He said, “Our farmers living on any category of land will be accorded ownership rights on their lands. We have taken the historical decision to provide land ownership rights to people occupying lands under categories one, three and four among other types of land holdings.
The Van Gujjars and residents of slum settlements will also be provided land ownership right,” he said, while adding that works are underway to improve the conditions in slum settlements at a cost of `400 crore. The labourers are also being registered to link them with the mainstream of development. Rawat directed the district magistrate Ashish Kumar Shrivastav to hold camps for according the land ownership rights. He requested the farmers to prepare the necessary land documentation and derive the maximum benefit of camps to be held by the administration. The CM opined that he was in favour of of bringing about a new agriculture ‘revolution’ in the Terai-Bhabar region. For this purpose, the GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology has been directed to conduct research on the seeds of such improved fruit and vegetable varieties which enable the farmers to benefit from the cultivation of unseasonal fruits and vegetables.
Stressing that the Government is committed to the welfare of farmers, Rawat said that the previous dues of sugar cane farmers had been cleared by securing a loan of `50 crore through the medium of cooperatives.
He presented a cheque for `16.72 crore to the Bazpur cooperative sugar mill chief manager on the occasion. Stating that efforts are underway to modernize sugar mills, the CM said that the State has sought a sum of `1,000 crore from the Union Government for this purpose. He also directed the chief managers of the sugar mills to ensure improved sugar cane seeds are provided to the farmers in the coming two years.
Earlier, the CM unveiled the foundation of and inaugurated various schemes costing about `100 crore in total. Stating that the State’s growth rate in agriculture sector is 5.5 per cent, Rawat averred that 24-hour power supply is being provided to people in the state.
The State revenue minister Yashpal Arya, Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay and other party leaders also expressed their views on the occasion.