BENGALURU: As Agriculture Minister in the BS Yediyurappa cabinet, police officer-turned-film star-turned politician BC Patil is keen to take pro-active confidence-building measures to reassure farmers that the government is with them. Preventing farmers from taking extreme measure is his biggest challenge and Team BSY is confident of supporting farmers, he said in an interview. Excerpts.
As Agriculture Minister, what are your biggest challenges?
The biggest challenge is to prevent farmers from taking extreme measures and we want to take up confidence-building measures and also create awareness about the government’s initiatives. We might have given good schemes and assured them about measures like farm loan waivers, but the challenge is to stop them from taking the extreme step. We want to educate farmers, increase their confidence and make them strong.
What are your expectations from the state budget?
I just took over as minister last week. CM Yediyurappa is known for his pro-farmer approach and I am sure he will do justice. He has already held meetings with farmer associations. I don’t know how much money he will allocate to the Agriculture Department. But this time, it will be a farmer-centric budget.
Last year, farmers suffered because of floods and drought. How prepared are we this year?
Last year, people in many parts of the state suffered due to floods. Yediyurappa was alone at that time, but that did not stop him from taking steps. He travelled and interacted with farmers, assuring them not to lose hope. This time, we are a team. Come what may - flood or drought -- we will stand with Yediyurappa and farmers. We hope that this year there will be good rains to help farmers.
What are your priorities as Agriculture Minister?
One of the permanent solutions is to fill ponds and lakes. A few months ago, when Yediyurappa came to my constituency Hirekerur, he announced Rs 185 crore for various works, including filling up of 90 tanks and lakes in my constituency. I hope in this budget, he will allot more money to fill water bodies that will make farmers self-sufficient. I will travel across the state and listen to farmers’ opinions. When I was in the police department, I came across many cases where farmers were cheated with substandard seeds. I am going to write to the DG &IGP, asking him to direct the police to support our vigilance team in cracking down on the substandard seed mafia.
Opposition leaders still term you and other newly inducted ministers as “disqualified” legislators?
How can anyone say this? The Supreme Court clearly said that we can become ministers if we won, and we have won with big margins. Even the “Janatha Court” has given its decision in our favour. In 2018, I won by 555 votes and now by more than 29,000 votes. This means, people in large numbers have supported my decision.