Farmers Movement Archive

Yogi Adityanath lashes out at Congress for sitting on Swaminathan report

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath lashed out at Congress for now trying to mislead farmers over the new farm laws but sitting on the Swaminathan Committee report when it was in power. He was interacting with the state's farmers on the occasion of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birth anniversary during which PM Narendra Modi distributed funds to farmers under the Kisan Samman Nidhi. Several senior BJP leaders, including union minister Smriti Irani, panned out across UP on Friday to be present in their constituencies when PM Narendra Modi made his address. While NDA government is facing massive protests by farmers at Delhi’s borders against the new farm laws, the CM said that it would be appropriate to celebrate Good Governance Day which marks Vajpayee’s birth anniversary as Kisan Samman Diwas since Vajpayee was the first person after independence to take steps to strengthen farmers financially. In UP, Rs 4,260 crore was given to more than 2.13 crore farmers under the scheme which was launched ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In Mohanlalganj to address a programme to mark the event, the CM gave out tractors to five farmers, portable rice miller machines to three and one small oil extraction machine to another. “Vajpayee started initiatives to strengthen rural infrastructure, starting with rural roads, to international level highways and mobile technology. Vajpayee started these projects and Narendra Modi is taking them forward,” he said. He added that the current government is working for farmers, labourers, women, youth etc and has made seeds, fertilizers, power and irrigation easily accessible to farmers. It is purchasing produce directly from farmers at the minimum support price. The central government accepted the recommendations of the Swaminathan report and implemented an MSP which is 2.5 times more than the input cost, the CM said. “When our government came to power, it immediately took action for the welfare of farmers. The first step it took was to waive of loans of Rs 36,000 crore for 86 lakh farmers. We started work on irrigation projects that had been pending for years. The Ban Sagar project, pending since 1977, was completed in one year. Work is going on at a fast pace to complete the Arjun Sahayak, Saryu and Madhya Ganga irrigation projects. By March 2021, irrigation facilities will be available for over 20 lakh hectare land,” he announced.

The Times of India

2020-12-27

Lucknow