Pilibhit (UP), Apr 9 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday claimed sugarcane farmers were made to wait endlessly for their dues when the Congress and Samajwadi Party were in power but Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath worked diligently from the day he took office to solve their problems.
Addressing an election rally here, he said the farmers here would greatly benefit from his government's push for ethanol blending. He also talked about the use of drones in agriculture.
"Our youngsters will make drones, and village women will become drone pilots," the prime minister said.
He asserted that there would be three crore 'lakhpati didis' in villages. The Lakhpati Didi scheme is aimed at training women in self-help groups so that they can earn a sustainable income of at least Rs 1 lakh per annum.
The prime minister said the Yogi Adityanath government has paid out more money to sugarcane farmers in the last seven years than the entire amount they received during the Congress, SP and BSP terms in the state.
"No one knows better than you how sugarcane farmers were made to wait endlessly for their own money during the rule of the Congress and Samajwadi Party. The BJP government worked with full strength to minimise the problems of sugarcane farmers and Yogi ji took several steps from day one itself," Modi said.
Referring to black marketing of urea in the past, he said, "Pilibhit and this region is known for farming. You might be remembering the condition of farmers 10 years ago. There used to be black marketing of urea and the farmers had to bear the brunt."
Now farmers get enough urea, the prime minister said, adding that a sack of urea, which sells for Rs 3,000 in the world is supplied to farmers by the government for Rs 300.
Under PM Kisaan Samman Nidhi, farmers of Uttar Pradesh have got Rs 70,000 crore, the prime minister said.
Speaking about tourism in Pilibhit, the prime minister said his government was working towards spreading the fame of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve across the country and around the world. "An ecosystem of eco-tourism is being built here and avenues of employment and self-employment for the youth are also being created."
The BJP has fielded Uttar Pradesh Minister Jitin Prasada from the seat, denying ticket to its incumbent MP Varun Gandhi. Its main rival Samajwadi Party has fielded Bhagwat Saran Gangwar in the seat while the BSP has given ticket to Anis Ahmed, a former Uttar Pradesh minister.
Eight parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh -- Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina, Moradabad, Rampur, and Pilibhit -- will vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls on April 19. Votes will be counted on June 4.