Parliament has passed 3 Farm Bills for improving overall economic condition of farmers: Rattan Lal Kataria

• Parliament has passed the 3 farm bills for improving overall economic condition of farmers, which is congruent to Government’s goal of doubling farmer’s income: Rattan Lal Kataria
• “Govt to disburse Rs 18,000 Crores directly into the bank accounts of 9 Crore farmers on the occasion of Birth Anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee”
• “Government open to discussion on farm laws and shall address all the concerns of Annadatas”

Asserting that the Modi Government is totally committed towards the welfare of farmers, the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Social Justice & Empowerment, Rattan Lal Kataria has stated that the Parliament has passed the three farm bills for improving the overall economic condition of the farmers, which is congruent to the Union Government’s goal of doubling the farmer’s income by removing existing restrictions and old shackles. Kataria, in a statement, issued here today, said that these bills will provide new rights & opportunities to farmers and further empower them in the long run. He strongly criticized the opposition parties who are trying to play politics over this matter& termed them as opportunists.

Kataria informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi shall mark good governance day by transferring Rs 18,000 Crores directly into the bank accounts of 9 Crore farmers of the country under the PM KisanSamman Nidhi Yojana. He said that PM shall address the farmers at 12:00 noon on 25th December which marks the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, celebrated as Good Governance day throughout the country. Kataria, reminiscing the old memories of working with Vajpayee ji, termed him as a great visionary and one of the tallest statesmen in Indian politics.

Allaying any fears among the farmers and strongly rejecting the false propaganda being spread on discontinuation of MSP, Kataria said that the Government has continuously increased the Minimum Support price for procurement of crops. In the year 2019-2020, the Union Government has cumulatively increased the MSP up to 2.5 times as compared to the year 2013-14. In fact, from the year 2018-19, a decision was made to compute the MSP at 1.5 times the production cost of crops.

Katariastressed that the Modi Government has been working tirelessly towards the welfare of farmers. Giving out the details, the Minister of State said that the Modi Government has increased the budgetary outlay for the agriculture sector from Rs 21,933 Crores in the year 2013-14 to Rs 1,34,399 in the year 2020-21, an increase of almost 6 times. Under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, a sum of Rs 95,779 Crore has been transferred, till date, benefitting 10.59 Crore farmers of the Nation. Talking about crop insurance, he informed that around 6.6 Crore farmers availed benefits under the Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana. A total claim amount of over 87,000 Crores has been processed under this scheme.

The MoS further added that a part from the above, there have been a number of farmer centric initiatives, schemes and policies rolled out by the Modi Government such as providing Neem Coated Urea, Soil Health cards, PM Krishi SinchaiYojana,  Kisan Rails, Provision of providing credit upto Rs 1 Lakh Crores to 10,000 FPOs, etc.

Kataria reiterated Government’s commitment towards farmer’s welfare and appealed to the farmers, addressing them as “Annadatas”, that they should see through the motives of opposition parties. The Government has been and shall always be concerned about the farmer’s welfare and the 3 Acts are also aimed at the same. He said that the Government is open to any discussion on the farm laws and shall address all the concerns of farmers. Kataria asserted that a new era awaits us, one that shall catapult the much needed growth in the agriculture sector& transform the lives of our Annadatas.