UP govt to soon announce MSP for maize, open procurement centres: CM Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the state will soon open procurement centres for maize and declare Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the crop.

Addressing a gathering under the ‘Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’ in Auraiya, the chief minister accused the previous central and state governments of ignoring farmers' welfare.

For the first time in independent India, farmers became part of the central government’s political agenda in 2014 when Narendra Modi assumed office as prime minister and several innovative schemes were introduced for their welfare, he noted.

Highlighting a change in agricultural patterns, Adityanath said, “Earlier, farmers in the state were limited to one or two crops. Now, maize has become a profitable third crop, cultivated on over five lakh hectares. Farmers are now earning up to Rs 2.5 lakh per hectare.” “We assure farmers here that we will soon open procurement centres and declare Minimum Support Price (MSP) for maize as well,” he said.

He said that under the BJP's double-engine government of the Centre and the state, agricultural scientists and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) experts have been sent from labs to the fields for the first time.

“This ‘Lab to Land’ initiative is part of PM Modi’s vision of taking farmers from ‘seed to market’, prioritising their interests,” he said.

“It was in 2014 that the farmer, the provider of food, was included in the government’s political agenda. This was visible for the first time when Prime Minister Modi launched the Soil health card scheme,” he said.

He said that prior to 2014, hardly anyone apart from agricultural scientists knew about soil health cards.

“Following that, schemes like the PM’s agricultural irrigation scheme and crop insurance were launched. Today, over 12 crore farmers across the country are benefitting from the PM-KISAN scheme.

"In Uttar Pradesh alone, Rs 85,000 crore has been transferred to the accounts of 2.86 crore farmers so far,” he said.

Adityanath also said that his government has given jobs to eight lakh youths so far, adding that on June 15 Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hand over appointment letters to 60,000 personnel recruited in the police force.

The chief minister highlighted the plight of farmers before the BJP came to power in the state in 2017.

“Back then, farmers were committing suicide, sugarcane dues were unpaid, and there were no procurement centres for maize, pulses, oilseeds, potatoes, paddy, or wheat,” he said.

He added, “After forming the government in 2017, we waived Rs 36,000 crore worth of loans for 86 lakh farmers. We expanded irrigation capacity under the PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana, covering an additional 23 lakh hectares of land.” Adityanath said that the state government has also provided free electricity for 15 lakh private tube wells of farmers, for which Rs 2,700 crore is paid to the electricity department annually.

“Under the PM Kusum Yojana, more than one lakh farmers have received solar panels so far,” he said.

The chief minister also targeted previous Samajwadi Party governments, alleging that during their tenure, law and order had deteriorated and job recruitments were marred by nepotism.

“Back then, gangsters ruled, women and traders were unsafe, and recruitments were controlled by ‘uncle and nephew’ (a veiled reference to SP's Shivpal Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav) making them controversial,” he alleged.

“In contrast, we have given government jobs to eight lakh youths so far. Recently, we recruited 60,000 personnel in the police force. On June 15, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hand over appointment letters to these recruits,” he said.

The chief minister also said that his government has recruited over 1.6 lakh teachers and asserted that hiring in various departments including PWD, irrigation and agriculture has been done with complete transparency.