Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured farmers that his Government has been very serious in ensuring fair remuneration for crops and protection against the global escalation in prices of fertilisers and chemicals. He asserted that it is not just a promise, but “Modi’s guarantee”.
“Modi guarantees that the farmers would not be burdened with the rising costs of fertilisers and chemicals around the world,” said the Prime Minister in his address at the inauguration of the 17th Indian Cooperative Congress on July 1.
Comparative urea prices
Citing an example, he reminded that farmers in India are getting a bag of urea for less than Rs 270. In comparison, he pointed out, a similar bag costs Rs 720 in Bangladesh, Rs 800 in Pakistan, Rs 2,100 in China, and in a developed country like the US, it comes for more than Rs 3,000.
“What is a guarantee after all? It shows how much effort is required to transform the life of the farmer. Overall, if we look at the last nine years, and I am talking only about fertiliser subsidy alone, the BJP Government has spent more than Rs 10 lakh crore. What could be a bigger guarantee than this?” PM Modi stressed.
Benefits to farmers
He said that the Centre is providing Rs 50,000 annual benefits to each farmer with Rs 6.5 lakh crore allocated to the agriculture sector. He listed out the benefits for farmers in terms of fertiliser subsidy, foodgrain procurement, and PM-KISAN.
Under the PM-KISAN scheme, farmers receive an annual amount of Rs 6,000 in three equal instalments as financial support. “From the beginning, our Government has been very serious about ensuring that farmers get a fair price for their crops. In the last nine years, farmers have received more than Rs 15 lakh crore as a result of increasing the MSP,” reminded PM Modi.
“That means, if you calculate, every year the Central Government is spending more than Rs 6.5 lakh crore on agriculture and farmers which means that every year, on an average, the Government is providing Rs 50,000 to every farmer in some form or the other. That is, in the BJP Government, farmers are guaranteed to get Rs 50,000 every year in different ways. This is Modi’s guarantee. And I am talking about what I have already done; these are not promises,” he assured.
PM-KISAN scheme
Explaining further, the Prime Minister shared that an impressive sum of Rs 2.5 lakh crore has been transferred directly into the bank accounts of farmers in the last four years through the PM-KISAN scheme.
Emphasising the intent and commitment of his Government, Prime Minister Modi pointed out, “You can guess how big this amount is from the fact that the total agricultural budget for the five years before 2014 was less than Rs 90,000 crore”.
Recently, the Central Government has announced a package of Rs 3 lakh 70 thousand crore for farmers. Also, the fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane farmers was increased to Rs 315 per quintal.
The PM also reminded that the cooperative sector is going to play a major role in India in raising the potential of villages and the country’s farmers in ‘Amrit kaal’.
“Together, the Government and the cooperatives will give double strength to the resolve of a developed India, a self-reliant India,” he stated.
