SAS Nagar (Mohali), February 16, 2014: Eminent political leaders from across the country today hailed Punjab Chief Minister’s initiative to hold country’s first ever Progressive Punjab Agriculture Summit (PPAS) here.
In his address Chattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh lauded the role of state in consolidating the Public Distribution Syatem (PDS) of the country by contributing in national food pool. Terming Punjab as a land of martyrs and farmers he said that the state was a role model for other parts of the country in Agriculture infra structure development especially the superb marketing network it had in the state. Dr. Singh said that Punjab was leading the country in every sphere because of the vast experience and vision of Badal.
Dr Raman Singh further said that to ensure the well being of the farmers of the country the need of the hour was that keeping aside their political affiliations the peasantry must join hands for their common cause. The Chattisgarh Chief Minister also laid thrust on linking the MSP with whole sale Price Index so as to benefit the farmers enormously. Taking a leap forward towards strengthening mutual cooperation in agriculture sector he announced that every year mutual delegation from both the states would visit each other to acquaint themselves with the latest and scientific farm practices. Singh said that a high powered delegation of nearly 1000 farmers from Chattisgarh would soon visit Punjab to update their agricultural skills through interaction with the Punjabi farmers on modern farm practices. He said that the Chattisgarh farmers would richly benefit from the experience and expertise their counterparts in Punjab.
Speaking on the occasion former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Supremo Chandra Babu Naidu said that Punjab and Andhra Pradesh shared the ties of hard work, patriotism and honesty. He said that the wrong policies of the Union government have resulted in the reduction of the agriculture production in the country. The former Chief Minister said that in order to eradicate the poverty from the country agriculture production was needed to be enhanced both qualitatively and quantitatively, which would also help the country to avert the trend of slowdown in agriculture economy.
Naidu said that all the political parties should join hands for making Agriculture a profitable venture. Lauding the Chief Minister for his pro-farming and pro-development vision, Naidu said that the Telugu Desam Party and SAD shared close ties because of their pro-farmer stance. He bemoaned that country was passing through a crisis as the centre was not taking any interest in agriculture due to which the famers of the country were reeling under a huge debt. He said that in order to save the farmers need of the hour was to make far more budgetary provision for the agriculture at state and centre level generously.
Addressing the gathering Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan described Badal as a leading political figure of the country who was highly revered by one and all. Saluting the sacred land of Punjab, he said that the valiant Punjabis have defended the country from foreign aggression of and on. He said that the land of Punjab was land of sacrifice and bravery due to which it was rare honor for him to be here. Chauhan also lauded the hard working and resilient farmers of the state for making nation self sufficient in food production.
The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said that the state was trying to replicate the Punjab model and was making rapid advancements in the field of agriculture production. He said that though MP was once considered a BIMARU state but now we were following Punjab to provide better irrigation facilities through lift irrigation scheme and linking of rivers. Chouhan said that Agriculture must be made a remunerative preposition by reducing input cost and enhancing MSP. Centre had ruined the farmers through their ill conceived policies adding that until the farmers were not paid remunerative MSP the nation would not progress. He said that before fixing MSP the input costs must be minutely observed and it should be fixed while giving 50% profit to the farmers. Chauhan said that the crop insurance scheme must be revamped and the individual farmer must be considered as an independent unit for assessing the loss and thus granting adequate compensation as now Tehsil was considered as a unit. He lamented that even after more than 65 years of independence the problems of farmers were still rampant adding that it was the high time that the state governments must pressurize the Centre to formulate the policies while interacting with the farmers. He said farmers were more conversant with their problems as compared to bureaucrats who were drafting policies for the former just sitting in cozy offices.
In his address Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav termed the summit as a historic step aimed at ensuring the well being of the farmers of the country. He said that it was a unique occasion when the Industrialists, experts and the farmers of the country have converged on a single platform to change the destiny of the food growers of the nation. Yadav said that this summit was a stepping stone toward the better cooperation of all these three sectors of the country.
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said that it was a fact that only those countries in the world have emerged stronger whose farmers have made progress. He said that even Punjab was a progressing state today due to the hard work and resilience of its farmers. Assuring full support to the Punjab Chief Minister for every cause of farmers, Mr. Yadav said that the Uttar Pradesh government was duty bound for this noble cause.
Speaking on the occasion Agriculture Minister of Pakistan Punjab Dr Farooq Javed said that eastern and western Punjab have several similarities in the agriculture climate, cropping pattern and marketing strategies. He said both these Punjabs could work out a common synergy to mutually benefit there agriculture economies. Dr. Javed stressed on the need of exchange of farmer delegations and agri experts so that the both the states could be immensely benefitted from each other’s vast experience in the farming. Javed represented the Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister Janaab Shahbaz Sharif who could not attend the summit due to his certain pressing engagements and he sent a message felicitating the Chief Minister for taking this unique initiative which would prove to be a milestone in further fostering the bonds of mutual cooperation, love and bonhomie amongst the people of both the countries in general and states in particular.
Speaking on the occasion Bihar Agriculture Minister Naginder Singh appreciated Badal for taking this laudatory step and described him as a stalwart of Indian polity and messiah of farming community. He even said that an eminent personality like Badal could lead the country as Prime Minister because none else other than him could comprehend the problems of farmers as he could.
In his address Bengal Agriculture Minister Moyili Ghatak lauded the revolutionary step of holding this summit and said such initiatives offer a healthy platform to the farming community in general and small and marginal farmers in particular to transform their destiny. He said that this summit would be instrumental in evolving a consensus to impress upon centre for chalking out a workable action plan to make the farming not only profitable venture but also remunerative one.
In his address, the Gujarat Agriculture Minister Babubhai Bokhiriya laid stress on the need to educate and organise the farmers besides making them self reliant. He said that such summits could play a proactive role in this direction and to sensitise the farmers to adopt new and cost effective farm practices to enhance their profitability.
Speaking on the occasion Rajasthan state BJP President Ashok Parnami said that despite scanty irrigation facilities the state of Rajasthan had enviable position in the production of Bajra, Guar, Soya Bean and pulses. He complemented the Chief Minister for organising this summit which would offer a healthy platform to the progressive farmers of the northern region to update their expertise through interaction and participation in live demonstrations. //punjab news live, punjab news online, punjab news, punjab news headlines, punjab breaking news, india news, punjab news, world news,
Date:
Sunday, February 16, 2014