Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik targeted the BJP led National Democratic alliance government at the Center for the plight of the farmers in the state. The farmers of the state have bore the brunt of twin natural calamities of unseasonal rains at the time of harvesting of Rabi crop in March last year followed by the drought which heavily impacted the yield of the Kharif crops.
Addressing the joint session of the state legislature on the inaugural day of the budget session the Governor, whose speech was marred by the intense slogan shouting by the Bahujan Samaj party MlAs, said Centre has not given even half of the relief amount that was demanded by the state for distributing among the farmers who suffered huge losses due to damage to the standing crops.
“Not even half the amount of the relief amount demanded by the state government from the Center was given after several months. Instead of waiting for Centre’s money, the state government provided relief to the farmers from its own resources by increasing the limit of drawl from the contingency fund,” the governor said. The governor also blamed the Centre for the serious financial hardships faced by the sugar cane growers due to the nonpayment of the arrears by the sugar mills to the Farmers. ``The sugar price crashed in the open market due to the faulty policies of the Central government , the state government bailed out the sugar cane growers and the industry by offering tax concessions and financial assistance to the sugar mills for clearing the arrears of the farmers’’.
Praising the development oriented strategy adopted by the government, the Governor said ``the government has tightened its belt for prosperity, progress and balanced development of the entire state. On the one hand, a congenial climate for investment was created by improving the basic facilities leading to spurt in growth rate, and on the other, the government worked for betterment of farmers, villages, labourers and the poor so that the benefit for development reaches to every section of the society.”
Naik said that the government has put every year before the people the Agenda of Development and had taken speedy action on the agenda round the year.” It is a matter of pride that the hard work has started paying off and implementation of developmental projects in a large number is clearly visible all around,” he added. The address also claims that the SP government has fulfilled almost all its promises made during the elections of 2012 with further claiming that,” there has been no difference in our acts and deeds .”
The governor announced that this year too has been declared as ‘ Year of Farmers’, with saying that the government has not only taken the historic decision of providing the facility of free irrigation to farmers but also ensured the reach of water up to their fields by completing irrigation projects, running of new tube-wells and removing silt from canals. He said that the government is making sustained efforts to increase agriculture productivity also to ensure remunerative price to the farmers of their produce.
The governor also mentioned about the job opportunity generated through Kamdheu scheme and poultry scheme besides 108 and 102(Samajwadi Ambulance) had been a success. Both the ambulances are 3752 in numbers in the state and have served over 1.28 crore patients till now. The address also mention about the lucknow- Agra Greenfield Expressway and the Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway connecting East and West of the state. He also said that the work of the lucknow Metro was going on a faster pace and the works of the Metro in other four cities too will start soon. The speech also mentioned about the rapid strides made in power sector for increasing power generation and improving the infrastructure for power transmission and distribution.
The governor speech also highlighted the measures taken by the state government to ensure the safety and security of women and employment opportunities for the asprational youth.
The governor in his address also listed the achievements of the government and the road map for the next fiscal 2016-17 about the projects and schemes in other sectors and departments like power, education, infrastructure development, health, environment, sports, social and minority welfare.