BJP legislator Pravin Darekar Urges Rural Youth To Stay Back, Take Up Farming & Agro-Processing

Mumbai: BJP legislator Pravin Darekar has urged rural youth to stay in their villages instead of migrating to Mumbai and pursue farming and agro-processing businesses to create sustainable livelihoods.

He was speaking at a farmers’ meet organised by the Kalkai Mata Krida Va Samajik Sanstha at the Captain Vikramrao More Hall in Poladpur taluka. The event included distribution of agricultural kits to farmers and medical kits to ASHA workers through Doctors For You.

Darekar said he often felt disappointed that while several talukas across Maharashtra had witnessed development and farmers had become financially prosperous, similar progress had not taken place in his native Poladpur. “No one else can build our future for us. We have to build it ourselves,” he said.

Citing examples of farmers and entrepreneurs who had undertaken innovative projects, Darekar said young people should form teams and take up large-scale agricultural activities. He assured financial and government support to farmers willing to expand their operations. He specifically mentioned a local farmer, Amar Kadam, who currently cultivates one acre, and said he would extend support if Kadam expanded farming to 25-50 acres.

Darekar also stressed the importance of soil testing and organic farming. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on soil testing, he said farmers should understand the condition of their soil and choose crops accordingly. Excessive use of chemicals had damaged soil quality as well as human health, he said, adding that organic manure, healthy soil and organic crops would become increasingly important.

“Instead of every young person going to Mumbai, villages should have young people taking up farming and agro-processing,” Darekar said, warning that failure to create economic opportunities locally could leave the next generation in the same situation.

He also appealed to people who had moved to cities to contribute to the development of their native villages. “If I develop myself in Mumbai, but the village I came from and its farmers and their children remain backward, there is little meaning in my success,” he said.

Darekar also announced the ‘Namo Sahakar Taxi’ initiative in Mumbai, under which around 2,000 drivers would be provided taxis through Devdatt Transport and Tourism Cooperative Society. He said the drivers would be members and partners in the cooperative, with the profits going directly to them. According to Darekar, around 2,500 taxi drivers have already registered and the taxis are expected to begin operating within the next fortnight.

A large number of farmers, ASHA workers, public representatives, officials and BJP and Shiv Sena functionaries attended the event.

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