Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that unlike the self concerns of other regional caste-based and family-controlled political parties, welfare of farmers was on the top of the agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party government and it was committed to protecting their interest, particularly of the sugarcane growers.
He said the UP government was relentlessly pursuing the goals set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doubling the income of the farmers.
“In March 2017, when the BJP government took over, there were huge arrears of farmers on sugar mills and many sugar mills were closing down. The BJP government ensured the operation of sugar mills resulting in utilisation of cane and thus helped the farmers. The UP government has so far ensured payment of over Rs 76,000 crore to the farmers,” Yogi said and added, “Less than Rs 4,000 crore is still pending as cane arrears and it will be cleared soon.”
Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday launched a web portal and e-Ganna app for the convenience of sugarcane farmers. The cane supply slip will now be issued to the farmers by sugar mills online.
The web portal and e-Ganna app will help in eradicating the cane mafia and middleman and strengthen the cane development societies.
The portal and the app will ensure transparency in the process and facilitate sugarcane supply by farmers to sugar mills and check irregularities in the process.
The app will have entire information about the issue of cane supply slips to the farmers for the whole cane crushing season from November to May.
“Earlier, black-marketing of cane supply slips was a common practice in UP. With the launch of the new app, transparent system for the supply of sugarcane by farmers to sugar mills is being launched and within next 30 months the government will ensure that sugarcane farming becomes a profitable venture for the farmers against the present state of the sugarcane farming,” the Chief Minister said.
Yogi said that sugarcane farming was an intensive industry. He said the farmers were on the top of the agenda of the BJP government. He said there were 50 lakh sugarcane farmers in UP and the government was working for their welfare.
Yogi Adityanath said that during the last nearly three years of the BJP rule in UP, a record amount had been paid to the farmers by the sugar mills.
He said the sugarcane farmers were a satisfied community today resulting in the sharp increase in the area under cane cultivation, which had increased from 20.52 lakh hectares to 28 lakh hectares.
The Chief Minister said 119 sugar mills were running during the last cane crushing season and two more sugar mills would commence crushing from the current season.
He said that farmers’ welfare schemes like soil health card and PM Kisan Samman Yojana should have been implemented right after the Independence of India in 1947.
He said if the farmers were not in the agenda of the political parties then the agenda of these parties was family and dynasty.
Sugar Industry Minister Suresh Rana said earlier the farmers were nowhere in the agenda of the government and they were compelled to commit suicide. He said the BJP government introduced fundamental changes and farmers were now on top of the agenda of the BJP government, which was relentlessly pursuing the agenda of doubling farmers’ income .
