MP Congress will introduce Krishak Nyay Yojana if it comes to power: Kamal Nath

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Wednesday announced a five-point ‘Krishak Nyay Yojana’ that will be implemented his party if it wins the state elections later this year, saying it will ensure free power and waiver of farm loans. MP Congress president Kamal Nath said the income of farmers has reduced since 2015 rather than increasing (Twitter/OfficeOfKNath) At a Press conference in state capital Bhopal, Kamal Nath said the scheme drawn up the Congress for farmers will reduce the input cost. “We waived the agricultural loans of 27 lakh farmers in the first phase (when Congress came to power after the 2018 polls). This scheme will continue,” Nath told reporters. Nath led waiver of bills for 5 horsepower pumps used for irrigation, waiver of electricity bill, loan waiver, withdrawing cases regered against farmers relating to agitations and uninterrupted power supply for 12 hours Kamal Nath accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of harassing farmers, saying the government could not ensure fertilizer or seeds when the farmers needed them most. “And when the crop is ready, the farmer does not get the right minimum support price to sell it,” he said The Congress leader continued: “CM Chouhan made a false announcement in front of the PM at the Rewa programme that farm income has more than doubled in MP, but the truth is that the income of farmers in MP has reduced.” He said Madhya Pradesh is among the four states where farmers’ income came down. Nath said it dropped to ₹8,339 per month last year from ₹9,740 per month in 2015-16. But the state government continued to be insensitive as ever, he said recalling instances where cattle of farmers were seized to recover power bills. Asked how he will mobilise resources to fund the party’s schemes, the Congress leader said the party’s commitment to the welfare of farmers was firm and it will find the resources. Nath recalled that when he started working on the farm waiver as the state’s chief miner, many predicted that he would violate the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. ”I informed them that FRBM Act was introduced when I was a miner at the Centre and I know everything. I asked the scheduled banks to waive off 50% loan so out of ₹32 lakh crores, the burden of only ₹16 lakh crores was left with the state government,” he added. The 2018 election threw up a hung assembly, with the Congress emerging as the single largest party with 114 seats in the 230-member House, while the BJP won 109 seats. Nath led a coalition government but it collapsed in March 2020. ABOUT THE AUTHOR She is a senior reporter based at Bhopal. She covers higher education, social issues, youth affairs, woman and child development related issues, sports and business & industries. …view detail