Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday announced Rs 18,000 crore expenditure on setting up 100 export-oriented horticulture clusters in the next five years to boost farm income as he presented the Modi government’s near-term roadmap for the farm sector.
While admitting that there are shortcomings and more needs to be done for the agri sector, he attacked Congress for not doing anything in their long rule post-Independence.
Replying to a discussion on work in his ministry in the Rajya Sabha, Chouhan also announced a Rs 6,800 crore oilseeds mission to reduce the import of cooking oils.
The senior BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh continued his attack on the Congress from Friday and accused it of being anti-farmer, citing many incidents of farmers’ deaths due to police firings under various Congress governments in states.
Congress leaders, including Digvijay Singh, who comes from the same state and was chief minister for 10 years, wanted to raise issues like demand for a legal guarantee on MSP and also alleged inaccuracies in the minister’s statement. They also accused Chouhan of firings on farmers during his tenure as chief minister of MP.
But, Singh and others were not allowed to speak, following which the Congress staged a walkout.
During his around 30-minute speech, Chouhan hit back at Congress by reeling out data of firing incidents on farmers under Congress rule in states.
On the one hand, the minister accused Congress of not giving priority to the agriculture sector, while on the other hand, he highlighted the steps taken by the Modi government in the last 10 years to boost farmers’ income, including assistance of Rs 6,000 crore to farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme.
He also outlined the roadmap for the next five years and said the government will set up 100 export-oriented horticulture clusters for Rs 18,000 crore.
The minister said the government will soon launch an oilseeds mission with an outlay of Rs 6,800 crore to boost domestic output and reduce imports of cooking oils.
Amendments will be made in pesticide management legislation while over 1,500 more mandis will be integrated with the e-NAM platform.
“There are problems in agriculture, but there are solutions also. We will speak to farmers and farmers association,” he acknowledged.
Chouhan sought Cooperation from the state governments, saying it was necessary for the welfare of farmers and said he would collectively work with the state governments irrespective of political parties to resolve the issues.
“We will resolve it through dialogue and will move forward taking everyone along with us,” he assured.
Chouhan informed that he has invited the agriculture ministers from all the states to discuss the problems faced by farmers. “We would work together with the state governments.”
He urged political parties not to treat farmers as vote banks but as humans.
By 2047, as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India would not only produce sufficient nutritious food, vegetables and fruits but also emerge as a food basket of the world, Chouhan asserted.
Also Read: JioFinance Makes Global Move, Introduces Payment Services in Paris
