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Kisan Varsh to focus on profitable farming
THE STATE Government will devote the next year on farmers? welfare and making farming a profitable affair by developing network of roads inside villages and roads from villages to farmers' fields.
THE STATE Government will devote the next year on farmers’ welfare and making farming a profitable affair by developing network of roads inside villages and roads from villages to farmers' fields.
The Department of Agriculture will be re-christened Department of Farmers Welfare and rural areas will have two feeders, one for villages and another for farmers' fields.
Making these announcements for the farmers’ community in Bhopal, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said this year - from Balram Jayanti to the next Balram Jayanti - will be observed as Kisan Varsh.
He also spoke of the constitution of a farmers' welfare fund and constituting a Farmers' Commission and construction of 1,000 ‘Atal Sarovars’ amongst other sops.
This announcements were made on occasion of the Kisan Panchayat held at the Chief Minister's House to mark Lord Balram Jayanti. Hundreds of farmers from various parts of the State attended the panchayat.
Admitting to the prevalence of corruption in Government machinery, Chouhan assured farmers of ridding the machinery of the vice of corruption in time to come. “Corruption is there. Sometimes it is visible at a large scale. But it cannot be eliminated overnight. Nonetheless, I assure you that I will take this fight to the grassroots level and remove the slur (of corruption) from the State's face sooner or later,” he said.
Action against Government officials in Bhind district and prompt action in DMAT matter were some of the instances of how he was trying to fight the vice, he added.
Spelling out the Government's steps so far that were aimed at the welfare of farmers, he said the Government will run mobile laboratories for soil testing, set up electronic weighing machines and a well-knit computer network at mandis, upgrade horticulture nurseries with private participation, open more and more veterinary degree colleges and agriculture colleges with private participation, identify areas for their special agriculture products and set up food processing units for the products, invite private participation in Government farms, give awards to two progressive farmers- a man and a woman in each district etc.
The Chief Minister said although the State Cabinet had taken the decision he will make a formal announcement of the constitution of the Farmers' Commission which would be headed by chairperson Rajendra Pathak.
He said the Government will take strict action against those manufacturing and selling sub-standard fertilisers and seeds. No new taxes will be imposed on farm implements and existing taxes will either be reduced or abolished.
He said five irrigation projects were taken up for each of the Assembly constituencies under the Water Restructuring Project at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore. Work had already started in 16 districts out of 30 districts. In the next two years, six lakh hectare of land will come under irrigation.
He said Government would give a grant of Rs 50,000 to farmers willing to dig up big ponds in their fields, which will be known as Balram Taals. The Command Area Development Department would be restored by doing so.
He said the Government will consider farmers' demand for subsidy to them on purchase of a pair of oxen and bullock carts. The Government was also aware of certain irregularities in utilisation of subsidy given to farmers on purchase of tractors. There was a huge difference in rates of tractors at the company level and at the dealers' level, he said.
