From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Sep 5: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai formally launched the "Mukyamantri Raitha Vidya Nidhi" announced by him on the day he assumed office for granting scholarships to benefit 17 lac students through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.
Addressing a function held in Vidhana Soudha on Sunday after launching the scheme, the Chief Minister said the time has come to ensure that farmers received remunerative prices for their work and pointed out that the State Government would give priority for post-harvest management under the comprehensive agricultural policy.
Scientific storage of agricultural produce, transport, marketing and other facilities were among the measures to ensure that farmers got a better deal, he said.
The Chief Minister asked agricultural universities to take proactive steps to help farmers make use of the hybrid crops developed by them in the laboratories and cultivate them to earn better returns.
Bommai took the occasion to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi for implementing policies to double the farm income. The Modi government launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana to sanction Rs 6,000 subsidy to farmers. When Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa came to power, another Rs 4,000 additional subsidy was announced from the State Government, he said recounting the various steps taken by the Yediyurappa government to help farmers.
The Chief Minister explained that he decided to announce the Mukhyamantri Raitha Vidya Nidhi after coming to know that several children of farmers had discontinued their studies after completing SSSLC or PUC due to financial difficulties and something had to be done to encourage such children to take up higher studies, he said.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Thomar talked about the various pro-farmer measures implemented by the Modi government. The Modi government along with the State Government were working to doubling farmers’ annual income and for empowering them.
As part of the plans for empowerment of farmers, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 6,850 crore for Milk Producing Farmer Associations and other diary activities. A sum of Rs 1.5 lac crore has been set apart under the Atma Nirbhar yojana to ensure that the agricultural produce were protected, he said.
Thomar described Karnataka as a progressive and farmer-friendly State and mentioned that several programmes implemented by the State Government were models tor other states as well. The digital models would be presented during the conference of all Chief Ministers and Agricultural ministers, he said.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture Shobha Karandlaje said as many as 750 agricultural produce marketing societies were being established in Karnataka to give priority assistance to small and medium farmers.
She said the Union Government has unveiled one district one agriculture produce policy to encourage their exports and has set apart Rs 1 lac crore for improving the agricultural infrastructure.
State Agriculture Minister B C Patil, Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan, Horticulture Minister M Munirathna, Education Minister B C Nagesh, Organic Agriculture High Power Committee Chairman A S Anand, MPs and MLAs attended the programme.
Teachers Day
The Chief Minister later participated in the Teachers Day celebration held in Vidhana Soudha and presented awards to the best teachers. He also launched the "Our School, Our Contribution" database.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh, Congress MLA Rizwan Arashad and others participated in the function.