BENGALURU: At a time when the Central and State governments are facing flak from farmers over the farm laws, the Karnataka Agriculture Department is getting ‘Challenging Star’ Darshan on board to inspire wannabe farmers to take up farming.
Darshan, who is himself into farming, said he will try to create awareness about the government programmes that will benefit farmers and try to bridge the gap between farmers and the department. After Agriculture Minister BC Patil took the initiative, the actor agreed to be the ambassador for the department’s programmes without taking any remuneration from the government.
The process was formally set in motion on Saturday as the Agriculture Commissioner wrote to the Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Department, requesting issuing an order appointing the actor as the department’s ambassador.
“Many educated youngsters are not taking up agriculture and are migrating to the cities looking for work. We need to create awareness among the youngsters about agriculture and how it can be profitable. As ambassador, Darshan will be able to inspire many youngsters to take up farming and also boost the self-esteem among farmers,” said minister Patil, who himself is an actor-turned-politician.
Patil said when he first proposed the idea to the actor, he readily accepted and agreed to work with them to help farmers. Sources in the agriculture department said the decision to request the actor to be the ambassador had nothing to do with the current developments related to farmers’ protests.