After 'chai pe charcha' and 'lunch pe charcha' Prime Minister Narendra Modi will now start 'kisaano se charcha' on February 20 in the national Capital. In an attempt to work out practical solutions to doube farmers' income and also in view of impending elections this year and next, the Prime Minister will directly interact with them to seek their feedback or practical solutions to improve their financial health across. This is perhaps the first such attempt where the Prime Minister will be taking direct feedback from the farmers.
Farmers' resentment in Gujarat was one of the main reasons behind BJP's below-par showing last year. And with Assembly elections in over half-a-dozen States, including BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattishgarh besides Karnataka, the party wants ensure it does not lose out on the support of the farming community. The interaction will be held at a two-day session beginning February 19.
Union Agriculture Secretary SK Pattanayak on Friday said PM Modi will to take part in this conference on February 20. "PM will also seek practical solution from farmers", he said.
"Issues concerning farmers' income in near term, medium term and long term will be discussed at the meet. We hope to bring in a harmony of new ideas and evolve with some viewpoints of the farmers. Otherwise, we are making policy decisions in seclusion by ourselves at the ministry," Pattanayak said adding that this will help to prepare a roadmap or practical solutions to the farmers' problems.
The discussions would be divided into seven sections namely, agriculture waste to wealth; trade policy and export promotion; marketing agri-logistics and agri-value system; value chain and supply chain management; science and technology; ICT in agriculture; capital investments and institutional credit for farmers; and promotion of livestock, dairy, poultry and fisheries as engine of growth.
"The idea is to arrive at practicable solutions that can be implemented for the benefit of farmers in the country. Government is keen to find and adopt the suggestions of the participants that will help in yielding quick results across the agricultural sector, comprising several sub-sectors in addition to initiating long term interventions," Pattanayak said.
The participants will comprise of farmers, farmers' associations, scientists, economists, academics, trade, industry, professional associations, NGOs, policy makers and officers have been assigned to different themes and sub-themes, such that the issues are examined from multiple angles and comprehensive recommendations are made.
Farmers' distress has aggravated in view of sharp fall in prices of most agri-commodities like pulses and oilseeds due to bumper crop last year. Poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have already announced sops to help farmers come out of the rural distress. Even the central government in the Union Budget for 2018-19 has announced fixing MSP 1.5 times higher than the cost of production.