Farmers Movement Archive

‘One farmer, one nation’ phase begins: UP CM

LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath virtually launched and laid the foundation stone for nearly 250 projects in Deoria and Jaunpur districts on Friday. He also inaugurated a Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Hapur and laid the foundation stone for three more projects in Sambhal, Bulandshahr and Moradabad. During the ceremony, he reiterated that the three agriculture bills passed by the Parliament last week were for the benefit of farmers and some disgruntled elements were trying to mislead them. “Now farmers have entered the period of ‘one farmer, one nation’ where they can sell their produce wherever they want. They will no longer be bound by geography. The government is also giving them a guarantee for minimum support price. We have to encourage healthy competition and if we want changes in agriculture, we will have to keep our minds open to change,” he said. In Jaunpur, the CM launched 36 projects worth Rs 36.47 crore and laid the foundation stone for 44 projects worth Rs 91.70 crore. In Deoria, he inaugurated 28 projects worth Rs 82.33 crore and laid the foundation stone for 131 projects worth Rs 382.84 crore. Among other projects, he announced the construction of a bridge over the Gomti at Kalichabad and said that it would be named after Raja Yadvendra Dutt Dubey. A road inSikrara would be expanded and named after scientist Lalji Singh. A Nishadraj Rajkiya Balika Inter College was also announced along with the expansion of the primary health centre in Sikrara to a 100-bed hospital to be named after Lalji Singh. “I was to have visited this area but due to heavy rain, there has been loss of lives and crops. I have directed officials to immediately assess the damage and ensure that affected families are paid compensation at the earliest, including for damage to crop,” the CM said. Laying stress on the need for krishi vigyan kendras, the CM said that over the past three years, they had played a crucial role in helping farmers use new techniques and exposing them to improvements in the field of agriculture. “We have progressive farmers who want access to new research and techniques. Krishi vigyan kendras have helped connect farmers with new research and gave them access to high quality seeds,” he said. The CM further said that the work his government had been doing for farmers was visible even during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Over the past three years, sugarcane farmers had been paid Rs 1.05 lakh crore and UP was the only state were all sugar mills continued to function during the lockdown.

The Times of India

2020-09-26

Lucknow