Bhopal: Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made a string of announcements to douse flames of farmers’ protest that rocked the state in June this year. However, most of them are yet to be fulfilled. During day-long fast in Bhopal, following death of six farmers in police firing
at Mandsaur, he had urged farmers to refrain from violence and maintain peace.
Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, an auxiliary organisation of the RSS, is sore over non-fulfillment of announcements. Sangh’s regional organisational secretary Shivakant Dixit said that appointments to proposed farm commission should be made at the earliest. The CM and BKS had arrived
at consensus on several demands but only one – purchase of onions – has been fulfilled till date. He asked the chief minister to fulfill all his assurances and Sangh’s demands. Chouhan had announced that an Agriculture Produce Cost and Marketing Commission would be appointed
to determine input cost of farmers and ensure that they get remunerative price for their produce.
The Commission was duly constituted after Cabinet’s nod. However, six months down the line, no appointment has been made to the Commission. The Commission was to be headed by an agriculture expert with Agriculture Production Commission and Principal Secretary, agriculture as its members. Sources claimed that the related file is pending with the chief minister.
The chief minister had also announced that Village Knowledge Centres would be established to render croprelated advice to farmers. The agriculture department is presently discussing modalities of establishing the centres with CRISP. It may take another year for the Centres to come up. The proposal to establish Kisan Bazaars is stuck in Urban Development Department. The Bazaars were supposed to provide the farmers a platform to sell their produce directly to buyers thus the eliminating middlemen. The chief minister had announced that a State Land Use Advisory Service will be launched to provide tips to farmers on crops to be sowed to ensure optimum production. It was also decided to implement the ‘Amul Model’ for purchase of milk from farmers through co-up societies.
It was also announced that the penal interest on loans of defaulter farmers would be waived. However, none of these announcements have been implemented. Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Rajesh Rajora said that the government is working on announcements made by the chief minister. He said that as the implementation has to be done by different departments, proposals have been forwarded to departments concerned. He said that Price Stabilisation Fund has been created and onion purchase was funded through it. According to Rajora, other announcements too would be implemented soon.
