Uttarakhand Chief Minister described the new farm laws as the biggest reformative step. (File)
Dehradun:
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday said farmers are being misled about the new farm laws by their “sympathisers” who actually do not want them to prosper.
Joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s programme for transferring Rs 18,000 crore directly into bank accounts of farmers across the country, Mr Rawat described the new farm laws as the biggest reformative step ever taken in the interest of farmers.
“Farmers are free today to sell their produce wherever they like. The MSP mechanism will also continue. Doubling of farmers’ income is the Prime Minister’s major objective. But farmers are being misled by people pretending to be their sympathisers. They are actually people who don’t want farmers to prosper,” Mr Rawat said.
He said a slew of measures have been taken by the Centre over the last six years in the most transparent manner to improve the lot of farmers. Naming schemes like the PM Fasal Bima Yojana and Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, the chief minister said these only reflect the Centre’s genuine concern for farmers.
Highlighting steps taken by the state government to strengthen farmers, Mr Rawat said interest-free loans up to Rs 3 lakh are being given to farmers and dues of sugarcane growers have been paid in full.
“The state government had the Iqbalpur sugar mill reopened on its own initiative on which around 22,500 farmers depend. Eighty per cent subsidy is being given to farmers on farm equipment,” Mr Rawat said, adding that farmers will not be allowed to be misled.
The prime minister transferred Rs 165 crore directly into accounts of 8.27 lakh farmer families in Uttarakhand at the programme to mark the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
