The Bharatiya Janata Party Raita Morcha State president A.S. Patil Nadahalli on Tuesday said several welfare schemes of the Central government have helped farmers to lead a life of self sufficiency and pride.
Speaking to reporters at Udupi, Mr. Nadahalli said over 12 crore farmer families were provided ₹3 lakh crore at the rate of ₹6,000 a year through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman scheme. About 53 lakh farmers in Karnataka got benefits of ₹4,900 crore, he said.
During the last decade of the Narendra Modi government, the budgetary allocation got increased five-fold and reached ₹1,25,036 crore in 2023-24. Over 48 crore farmers were paid ₹1.5 lakh crore crop insurance under the Pradhan Mantri Phasal Bima scheme, he said.
Mr. Nadahalli said the government was providing fertilizer at subsidised rates to farmers by providing a bag of fertilizer at ₹300 as against its original cost of ₹3,500. Several benefits were provided to farmers at their doorsteps under the Pradhan Mantri Kissan Sampada scheme, the Rashtriya Gokul Mission, minimum support price, Kisan credit card, farmers produce societies, and the like.
Terms Congress as anti-farmer
On the other hand, Mr. Nadahalli alleged the Congress government in the State has stopped the ₹4,000-a-year welfare scheme started by the previous BJP government. It has also discontinued the Raita Vidyarthi Nidhi scheme wherein over 11 lakh students from farmers families were paid ₹439 crore scholarship every year, he said.
Continuing his charge against the Congress as being anti-farmer, Mr. Nadahalli said the Congress government has also withdrawn the ₹10,000 additional financial assistance to 50 lakh Kisan credit cardholders. It has also discontinued the ₹500 a month financial assistance to landless women workers under the Shrama Shakti scheme, he alleged.
With many pro-farmer policies, the BJP was set to win the Lok Sabha elections with huge majority while its candidates would be victorious in all the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka, Mr. Nadahalli said. MLAs Yashpal Suvarna and Gurme suresh Shetty and others were present.
