The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today said the Union Government is working with a vision of making the farmers and the villages self-reliant and prosperous. Addressing a group of about 150 farmers from various districts of Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister said the Union Government had taken a number of steps with this vision in mind. The farmers called on him at his residence this evening, to thank him for the Union Government's recent decision to provide Rs. 6000 crore to sugarcane farmers, and also for other recent pro-farmer steps taken by the Government in the sugar sector.
The Prime Minister explained at length, how his Government is working to provide 24x7 power to all villages, and how this will change the lives of the people, and provide an opportunity for value addition to the crops.
The Prime Minister said that the Government's decision to provide soil health cards to each farmer in the country, would help the farmers reduce input costs, and improve productivity. Similarly, micro-irrigation would also help the farmer produce more crop, per drop.
Shri Narendra Modi explained the benefits of the financial inclusion and social security schemes launched by his Government. He said direct transfer of benefits would eliminate leakages and middlemen from the system, so that the entire financial assistance that is sanctioned for the farmers, is delivered to them.
The Prime Minister also explained how the Government's decision to fix the support price of ethanol, and on ethanol-blending, would help the sugarcane farmers.
The Prime Minister expressed his deepest gratitude to the farmers for visiting him and blessing him to work for the progress of the country.
Earlier, felicitating the Prime Minister, farmers thanked him for the recent steps taken by the Government for the farmers' welfare. Shri Vijaypal Tomar, Chaudhary Udham Singh and Shri Harendra Singh were among the farmers who spoke on the occasion.
BJP President Shri Amit Shah, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Shri Sanjeev Balyan, UP State BJP President Laxmikant Bajpayee, and BJP –UP Organizing Secretary Shri Sunil Bansal, were present on the occasion.