Modi govt taking decisions in farmers' interest: BJP Kisan Morcha chief Rajkumar Chahar

BJP Kisan Morcha president Rajkumar Chahar and MP Vijay Pal Singh Tomar made a statement on Thursday supporting PM Modi. They said that ever since its formation, the PM Modi-led government has been taking decisions in the interest of farmers. They also spoke about the sugarcane prices in the country. 

'PM Modi led government taking decisions in farmers' interest'

MP Vijay Pal Singh Tomar said, "I want to thank PM Modi for increasing the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) which is paid on sugarcane to Rs 290 per quintal which will be based on a 10 per cent recovery. When the recovery increases beyond 10 per cent, then on every point 1 per cent rise, additional Rs 2.90 is paid per quintal. Even if a farmer has less than 9.5 per cent recovery, their Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) will be Rs 275 per quintal". He went on to say that when PM Modi came into office, the sugarcane rate was Rs.2300 a quintal, and payments for more than two years were overdue. More than 85,000 crores in payments have been made today out of a total of Rs 91,000 crores. The remaining payments will be made soon, as both production and payments to farmers have improved under PM Modi's term.

Tomar stated, "During the UPA government sugarcane was imported from Brazil but when the Modi government came we imposed a 100% import duty and promoted the export of sugarcane by giving incentives to the farmers and as a result, there is surplus production and a record high export of 55 lakh tonnes sugarcane was done in last year."

Tomar further said that during the UPA government, ethanol manufacturing was 38 crores litres per year, but that it is now 400 crores litres, and that ethanol can now be made from sugarcane. The Modi government provided sugar mills with a Rs 4500 crore soft loan package, and most mills have begun producing ethanol from sugarcane. More than 8% ethanol is already included in petrol. PM Modi's aim, he said, is to include at least 20% till 2025 because it will improve sugarcane farmers' financial conditions, lower India's import of petrol, and save the environment by generating less pollution.

On Thursday, Chahar took to Twitter to post a video on his address regarding the development of the country under BJP. He added in his tweet, "The workers of opposition parties are doing politics in the disguise of farmers and spreading confusion. #KisanKiSarkar". On August 21, he also posted, "All the farmers of the country are with Modi ji!". 

Farmer protests and fuel price current situation 

As per reports, there was a blockade by the sugarcane farmers in Punjab, which was removed after the state government increased the state advised price this month. The hike was from Rs. 35 a quintal to Rs. 360. The farmers had previously asked for a rate of Rs. 400 per quintal. The blockade had been done on the Jalandhar-Phagwara stretch of the Delhi-Amritsar national highway.

As for the farmer agitation across the country, no resolution has been made yet. The 3 farm bills are still being contested by the farmers. The farmer protests have been going on for about 9 months now. The National Convention of Farmers is being marked with over 1,500 representatives of farm unions from across the country coming together on Thursday and Friday to discuss further strategies for the farmers' nationwide agitation that has been going on. 

(With ANI inputs)

(IMAGE: Rajkumar Chahar - Facebook / ANI / Vijay Pal Singh Tomar - Twitter)