In his maiden monthly radio talk programme on Sunday, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel presented details of his vision before peoples of the state to usher in development. He promised to take care of all sections of society and largely focussed on farmers’ welfare and boosting rural economy.
He said, Rs Rs agriculture is the foundation of state’s economy and when farmers get good price for agricultural produces, the money flows from village to the city markets’’.
He stated, Rs Rs agriculture also feeds factories, this is the reason we have adopted the strategy to economically empower farmers and strengthen state’s economy through them’’.
Chief Minister said- “We have procured paddy at Rs 2500 per quintal from farmers, we have waived off irrigation tax and decided to go for one-time settlement so that farmers can get over financial burden and lead their lives with the respect and dignity which they absolutely deserve’’.
Rs Rs Transformation of rural areas is not possible with a step or two. This is the reason state government is focusing on long-term strategy, focusing on institutionalized development of ‘Narva, Garva, Ghurva, Bari’, including farm land improvement, income through animal husbandry, establishing food processing units in villages, value addition in agricultural produce and permanent arrangement for water supply management in the priority list’’ Baghel said in his radio talk.
Chief Minister said, Rs Rs with the help of science and technology, we will revive 1000 ‘Narva’ of the state. Big-small water structures will be built for rainwater harvesting. Chhattisgarh has 20 thousand ‘naala’, 285 rivers and 85 all-weather rivers. Despite that, irrigated area is only 31%’’.
He further stated that lack of water management is hindering the process of tubewell recharge. Continuous water supply in ‘Narva’ will result in improvement in water table. Roughly 44% of Chhattisgarh is covered in forests. Hence, we should create such a water structure that does not violate Forest Act’.
Chief Minister said, Rs Rs 200 villages were marked for construction of cowsheds, 900 of these cowsheds have already been inaugurated. To save farms from cattle grazing, farmers do fencing around their farms, which increases the input cost of farming. Some farmers have stopped doing crop rotation after paddy, fearing cattle grazing in their farms. Keeping in view the problems faced by the famers, Chhattisgarh Government has decided to revive cowsheds in the villages’’.
Rs Rs Cow-dung can be utilized for vermicompost and other medicinal products which will help cowshed committee to earn income. This will promote organic farming and save people from the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on food crops’’, Baghel opined.
He informed that Chhattisgarh is a power surplus state and major steps have been taken in the state in last six months to improve power distribution.
Rs Rs State Government has decided to complete construction works of 316 new substations in Chhattisgarh, out of which 280 substations have already been constructed under various government schemes. New transformers have been installed in 210 old power sub-stations. Implementation of the scheme of providing free electricity is being continued by the present government, and five lakh farmers are getting benefitted from the same. Farmers belonging to SC/ST are being provided full concession on electricity bills’’. On the question of insufficient rainfall during the current monsoon, Chief Minister said that farmers should not lose hope or get disheartened in any circumstances. Rs Rs In the areas with scanty rainfall, seeds of the species that grow in less amount of time and require lesser quantity of water have been provided. To benefit farmers under ‘Crop Insurance Scheme’, officials concerned have been directed to do proper inspection by August 15, so that no farmers remain deprived and premiums are deposited on time’’.
