Bhopal: Months ahead of assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Congress state president Kamal Nath Wednesday announced that if his party comes to power, it will introduce the ‘Kisan Nyay Yojana’, a scheme to provide free electricity to nearly 37 lakh farmers in the state that operate five horsepower pumps to irrigate their farmlands.
Addressing a press conference in Bhopal, he also promised to waive electricity dues and withdraw cases registered against farmers for taking part in various protests — from agitating against farm laws to fertiliser shortage. Nath further announced that cases of electricity theft lodged against farmers under Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government would be withdrawn.
Accusing chief minister Chouhan of lying to farmers about doubling their incomes, Nath said, “Parliamentary committee of Modi government in December 2022 stated that Madhya Pradesh is among the four states where farmers’ income has dropped considerably. The farmer in MP who earned Rs 9,740 in 2015-16 per month now earns Rs 8,339.”
He further pointed out that to bring down the cost of production in agriculture, it is of utmost importance that farmers be given the benefit of free electricity.
“The steep prices of diesel and electricity burden the farmers and lead to increased production cost of agriculture. The Congress is duty-bound to implement the Kisan Nyay Yojana when elected to power. With Congress providing free electricity to farmers using five horsepower pumps, it will directly benefit 37 lakh farmers in the state,” said Nath.
Congress leaders attacked the BJP government while alleging that nearly 20,489 farmers have died by suicide under BJP rule in MP. Nath accused the Chouhan-led government of firing on farmers in Mandsaur district in 2017, but till date failing to put before the Vidhan Sabha the investigation report of that case.
The Congress has promised to provide 12 hours of electricity to farmers and provide all necessary measures from timely availability of fertilisers to seeds for the betterment of farmers.
The announcement to provide free electricity for farmers comes after the Congress government had promised to waive farm loans ahead of the assembly elections in 2018.
Congress leaders said that after their party came to power in 2018, loans of 27 lakh farmers were waived as was promised, but before the process could be completed, it had lost its mandate in the state. “The BJP government which returned to power after buying MLAs, once against pushed the farmers into the debt trap. This led to 38 lakh farmers in MP becoming defaulters,” stated a press release issued by the Congress.
Nath claimed Chouhan has pushed MP into darkness with villages facing up to 10 hours of electricity cuts.
Rajendra Singh, who leads the manifesto committee for Congress, said, “There will be many announcements by the Congress party for the upliftment of farmers in the party’s election manifesto. This Kisan Nyay Yojana is the first aspect of it.”
Reacting to the announcements made by Nath, BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja said, “The BJP government under Shivraj Singh Chouhan is already providing subsidy to farmers using five horsepower pumps. The BJP government had also waived electricity dues during the pandemic while cases against farmers have already been taken back and 12 hours of electricity is being provided. Moreover, the BJP government is also helping farmers who became defaulters because of false promises of loan waivers by the Congress government. The interest rates of defaulting farmers were waived by BJP.”
During Wednesday’s press conference, Nath also announced the formation of ‘Narmada Seva Sena’ which will hold regular aarti and work towards cleaning the ghats of the Narmada river which is considered holy among Hindus. Narmada Seva Senas will be formed across various blocks and districts covering the entire 1,077 km-long stretch of the river from its origin in Amarkantak to Barwani and Alirajpur districts, from where it exits MP.
Members of the Narmada Sena will also work with experts to test the quality of water and identify sources from where pollutants are discharged into the river, and pressurise the government to stop the discharge of pollutants into the river.
Nath said the Narmada Seva Sena will be an apolitical body and all including CM Chouhan are welcome to join it. “If Shivraj Singh Chouhan can stop the sand mining done on Narmada river and wants to work for its betterment, he is welcome to join the Narmada Sena,” he added.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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