BHOPAL: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday transferred Rs 1,540 crore into the bank accounts of 77 lakh farmers with a single click under the Mukhya Mantri Kisan Kalyan Yojana. The sum was transferred into the accounts of the beneficiary farmers in 44 out of 52 districts for the financial year 2021-22. The farmers in the remaining eight districts would received their share of the benefit once the model code of conduct in force for the October 30 by-election to one Lok Sabha and three Assembly constituencies end.
Addressing a state-level programme from Minto Hall in Bhopal, Chouhan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was committed to the welfare of farmers and doubling their income. Three installments of Rs 2,000 each are deposited in the accounts of farmers thrice every year. Adding to the pool, the state government has decided to release Rs 4,000 annually to farmers under the Mukhya Mantri Kisan Kalyan Yojana.
Maintaining that power crisis looms large all over the globe, he said, “We will not allow shortage of electricity for irrigation. Despite the increasing consumption of electricity and coal being expensive, farmers will be provided electricity at affordable rates. Our government has decided to give a subsidy of Rs 21,000 crore to provide cheap electricity. There was a time when the availability of electricity in the state was only 5,000 MW, which we increased to 22,000 MW.”
He said all resources are being used to ensure the availability of electricity. He called upon the farmers to install solar plants in their fields through the scheme started by the state. Under this scheme, farmers can provide electricity to the grid by installing solar plants up to 2MW. Surplus electricity will be taken from the farmers at Rs 3.05 per unit. With this, farmers can get additional income by selling electricity after meeting their needs.
Maintaining that making agriculture profitable for farmers was the commitment of the prime minister, the CM said the state is bringing an Ethanol Policy. Ethanol made from grains and can be used with petrol and diesel. Therefore, bumper crop production can be used for ethanol production. This will help in increasing the income of the farmers.
While cautioning those black-marketing and hoarding fertilizers, the CM said such elements will be sent directly to jail. Continuous monitoring is being ensured so that the state government does not face any difficulty in the distribution system regarding the supply of fertilizers. He announced land records purification fortnight would be celebrated from November 1 to remove various types of errors in land records.