For the past 15 years, UP’s politics revolved around caste and family, but now it will be centered around youths and farmers, said chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a function to distribute loan waiver certificates to farmers, here on Thursday.
Adityanath and union home minister Rajnath Singh distributed certificates to farmers in keeping with the BJP’s assembly election promise.
In all 7,574 farmers received certificates. The CM and Rajnath personally distributed certificates to 50 beneficiaries.
Speaking on the occasion, Adityanath said: “Transfer and posting was a business and criminalisation of politics was part of the government in the past 15 years.”
“In the past 15 years in Uttar Pradesh no political party thought about farmers. Even those living (politicians) have got their memorials constructed,” said the CM referring to BSP chief Mayawati
Assuring farmers that no notices would be served to loan defaulters, the CM said: “I personally presided over a meeting with banks officials and told them that no notices must be served to farmers who default on loan.”
“By waiving loan the government is not doing any favour to farmers. It is your right. Farmers were the most oppressed lot among all in the state,” said the CM.
{{/usCountry}}“By waiving loan the government is not doing any favour to farmers. It is your right. Farmers were the most oppressed lot among all in the state,” said the CM.
{{/usCountry}}He said camps would be organised in every block and district for distribution of loan waiver certificates to farmers.
The CM further assured that loans of all farmers up to Rs 1 lakh till March 31, 2016 would be waived off as promised by the BJP. He also assured them that their land records (khatauni) would now be linked with their Aadhaar numbers to prevent land mafias from grabbing their land.
“The state government has constituted an anti-land mafia task force,” he said.
The chief minister also announced that the state government would procure paddy from farmers like it had procured wheat. “The government will be give Rs 15 per quintal more to farmers in addition to the minimum support price of the paddy,” said the CM. The amount would be directly transferred to farmers’ bank accounts, he added.
Earlier addressing the gathering, Rajnath was all praise for the Yogi government for fulfilling the loan waiver promise.
“It was due to PM Narendra Modi that the cost of urea came down. Earlier, farmers had to wait in long queues for hours to get urea. But now not only urea is also easily available but its cost has also come down,” he said.
“It is after 15 years that any government in the state has directly procured wheat from farmers,” said Rajnath.
It was during the tenure of Rajnath as chief minister that the government had directly procured wheat from farmers.
The union home minister also requested the chief minister to make some arrangement for stray cows that cause damage to crops. It is common practice to abandon cows in Bundelkhand once they stop giving milk. In local parlance the system is called ‘Anna Pratha’. These cows damage crops.