New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) Farmers are a priority for the NDA government, and steps taken under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their welfare and modernisation of farming have enabled the country to become a leading agricultural nation, BJP members of Rajya Sabha said on Thursday.
Participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in the Upper House, Maya Naroliya (BJP) highlighted funds allocated under various welfare schemes for farmers and several measures for modernisaton of agriculture.
She cited the example of Rs 4 lakh crore disbursed to farmers under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
“Farmers are priority for the government,” she asserted, adding that as a result, the country has been able to achieve record food grain production.
“India has become the world’s largest rice producer,” Naroliya said.
Expressing similar views, another BJP member, Mahendra Bhatt, said the government’s PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, which provided minimum income support of Rs 6,000 per year, has “instilled confidence among farmers” to further their occupation, in contrast to the earlier trend of farmers selling off their land.
This is a truth that farmers have an important role in India, he said, adding that if farmers remained poor and if their interests were not protected, India could have also faced a famine-like situation that some other countries suffered.
Bhatt further said the government’s crop insurance scheme, PM Fasal Bima Yojna, has also inspired confidence among farmers to sow crops without the fear of financial loss due to natural disasters.
Nominated BJP member Satnam Singh Sandhu said the President, in her address, recognised the contribution and role played by farmers in India.
He singled out farmers of Punjab, saying that they “are not just farmers but they are the protectors of the nation”.
Punjab has served the nation as its food bowl. Whether it is the green revolution, white revolution or record food grain production, the farmers of Punjab have become the driving force of food security of the country, Sandhu noted.
Sangeeta Balwant of the BJP said under the leadership of Modi, the NDA government has taken up several schemes for poverty alleviation, providing safe drinking water and improving the health and welfare of the poor, backward classes and tribals.
Direct benefit transfer has ensured that poor and beneficiaries receive the full amount, unlike “only 15 paisa out of one rupee” during the earlier Congress-led regime, she added.
On Wednesday, Opposition members, including Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, accused the government of compromising the interest of farmers in the India-US trade deal, saying the government wants to destroy the country’s agriculture sector. PTI RKL HVA
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