BJP government in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, continues to rain cash incentives upon people from different walks of life. On Tuesday, Chouhan hiked the Mukhyamantri Kisan Samman Nidhi for farmers to Rs 6,000 per year from Rs 4,000.
This amount is paid to farmers in the state in addition to the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi of Rs 6000 per year, as minimum income support. So now, the farmers in Madhya Pradesh will get Rs 12,000 per year under the Samman Nidhi scheme.
The announcement was made at ‘Kisan Kalyan Mahakumbh’ – a convention of farmers organised in Rajgarh in the presence of Union Minister Rajnath Singh. The chief minister also announced a further relaxation in the flagship Laadli Behna scheme, saying that the women from families owing tractors will now be eligible for the Rs 1,000 cash assistance. Earlier, tractors were included in the category of four-wheelers, the ownership of which by their families made women ineligible for the scheme.
On the occasion, as much as Rs 6,456 crore were transferred to accounts of farmers under various heads. This included Rs 2,123 crore to 11 lakh defaulter farmers as loan interest waiver, Rs 2,933 crore to 44.49 lakh farmers under the PM Crop Insurance scheme and Rs 1,400 crore to 70.61 lakh farmers under CM Farmers’ Welfare (Kisan Kalyan) scheme.
The union minister and the CM also inaugurated Mohanpura-Kundalia pressurized pipe irrigation system and the Gorakhpura rural group tap water (Nal-Jal) scheme.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister assured that fertilizers were available in sufficient quantity and the government will pay the interest amount for the advance taken by farmers for the purchase of seeds and fertilizers.
In the presence of Rajnath Singh, Chouhan said the burden of loan interest put on the heads of the farmers by the previous Congress government has been removed. He also lashed out at the earlier Congress government for depriving people of development. He also interacted with women and reiterated his newer promises on the Laadli Behna scheme.
Rajnath Singh appreciated the work done by CM Chouhan in the state, saying that Chouhan was doing charismatic work for people’s welfare like Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Singh applauded the role of farmers in the freedom struggle and in nation building. He said that it was gladdening to see the huge gathering of farmers at the convention. The union minister also highlighted the welfare and developmental works undertaken by the central government under PM Modi including digital India, the tap water scheme, public toilets and roads. He said that India’s global rankings on several fronts have gone up significantly during the past nine years.
Meanwhile, ex-chief minister Kamal Nath hit out at Chouhan on the issue of farmers saying that the BJP and Chouhan were the most anti-farmer party and chief minister in the country. “Seeing the obvious defeat in the elections, Shivraj ji is making new promises to the farmers, whereas in his 18 years of government, he has done nothing but take anti-farmer steps. The Congress government was waiving the loans of the farmers of the state. Loans of 27 lakh farmers were also waived, but before loans of all the farmers could have been waived off, BJP, the enemy of the farmers, toppled the government and stopped the loan waiver, turning the farmers into defaulters.”
He further said that as soon as the Congress government is formed, the debt burden on them will end. When there is no debt left, there will be no need to pay the interest. Along with this, fair minimum support prices will be given to the farmers. “Due to the wrong policies of the Shivraj government, the farmers of Madhya Pradesh are among the poorest farmers in the country. We will take them on the path of prosperity by giving the right price for the crop,” he added.