Demanding various relief measures for farmers in Uttar Pradesh, BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Sunday wrote to state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath demanding substantial increase in sugarcane prices, bonus on wheat and paddy, doubling the amount of PM Kisan Yojana. And demanded subsidy on diesel. Gandhi, a three-time MP from UP, has been advocating for reconnecting with the protesting farmers to reach a common ground.
In a two-page letter to Adityanath, the Pilibhit MP listed out all the problems and demands of the farmers as well as suggested solutions for the same. Tagging the letter on his Twitter handle, Gandhi said that he had written to Adityanath alluding to the problems of farmers. “I hope the issues of the sons of the earth will be heard,” he tweeted in Hindi.
In the letter, Gandhi suggested raising the selling price of sugarcane to Rs 400 per quintal which is currently fixed at Rs 315 per quintal in UP. Sugarcane is mainly grown in western UP, which is the center of protests by farmers in the state against the Centre’s agricultural laws.
Gandhi said in the letter that farmers should be given an additional bonus of Rs 200 per quintal over and above the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat and paddy. He also demanded that the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme should be doubled to Rs 12,000 per year for farmers, with the state government contributing Rs 6,000 from its own funds.
PM Kisan Yojana is an initiative of the Center through which all farmers will get up to Rs 6,000 per year as minimum income support. Sharing the farmers’ concern about the high prices of electricity and diesel, Gandhi in the letter requested the UP Chief Minister to give a subsidy of Rs 20 per liter on diesel to the farmers and reduce the electricity prices with immediate effect. Earlier on 5 September, when a large number of farmers had gathered in Muzaffarnagar for a mahapanchayat organized by the United Kisan Morcha against the three agricultural laws, Gandhi had said that the government should re-engage with them to access common land Because they are “our own flesh” and blood.”
“Millions of farmers have gathered in Muzaffarnagar today in protest. They are our own flesh and blood. We need to reconnect with them in a respectful way: understand their pain, their point of view and work with them to reach common ground. Do it,” Gandhi had tweeted by posting a video of a large crowd in attendance.
The mahapanchayat was held early next year ahead of the crucial UP assembly elections. Farmers are protesting against three agriculture laws on the borders of the national capital.
Several rounds of discussions were also held between the representatives of the protesting farmers’ unions and the Union Ministers, but the talks were in vain. The Center is insisting that the reforms have given farmers a new opportunity to sell their produce and rejected criticism that the laws are aimed at doing away with the MSP regime and agricultural markets.
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