The Congress on Wednesday promised free power for farmers and waiver of their agri loans and pending electricity dues if the party forms the government after the year-end assembly elections.
Addressing a press conference, which saw a brief power cut, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath alleged that the loan burden on farmers in the state has been increasing under the BJP rule. He said their ‘Krishak Nyay Yojana’ will bring down the input cost of farmers in agriculture.
“We have waived the agricultural loans of 27 lakh farmers in the first phase (when Congress was in power after the 2018 polls). This scheme will continue. In addition, we will launch Krishak Nyay Yojana under which benefits including free power for up to 5 horsepower pumps used in irrigation will be provided to farmers,” Nath told reporters.
This will benefit around 37 lakh farmers of the state, he said.
The MP Congress chief said that farmers’ pending electricity bills will be waived under this scheme.
“If elected to power, we will also ensure uninterrupted electricity supply for 12 hours to the farmers,” he said.
The former chief minister said that 70 per cent of MP’s economy is dependent on agriculture and farmers drive it.
If Congress forms the government, Nath said, they will also withdraw the criminal cases registered against farmers for raising their voice against fake power theft cases and other agriculture-related issues.
Citing the Centre’s data, the Congress leader said that MP is among the four states where farmers’ income came down. He said it dropped to Rs 8,339 per month last year from Rs 9,740 per month in 2015-16.
The income of the state’s farmers is way below compared with other states, he said.
With inputs from News18
The post MP Cong promises free electricity for farmers if voted to power first appeared on IPA Newspack.
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