Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday pitched for implementation of the ‘Telangana model’ to double farmers’ income in five years and make farmers debt-free in the country.
The Chief Minister also urged the Centre to link the work guarantee scheme, MGNREGA, with agriculture, to address the issue of scarcity of labour in agricultural operations. Mr Rao, who took part in the Niti Aayog general council meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, favoured setting up of government-run farmer federations from village level to national level and assistance to them from the stage of sowing of crops till marketing of agriculture produce. He said only this model would help to make the PM’s dream of doubling farmers’ income in five years into a reality.
Activities supporting agriculture such as dairy farming, sheep-rearing, fisheries, poultry, farm forestry, etc should be exempted from income tax, as these play a significant role in providing supplemental income to the farming community, he said.
KCR calls for crop colonies
“We have taken several steps to address agrarian distress and to revamp the rural economy by reviving traditional activities such as, sheep-rearing, fisheries, dairy, etc. Crop loans of Rs 17,000 crore were waived, benefitting over 35 lakh farmers,” the Chief Minister said.
“We have recently announced an innovative scheme to provide investment assistance of Rs 4,000 per acre, in both the crop seasons, towards purchase of inputs such as seeds, fertiliser, pesticide, labour costs, which will benefit 55 lakh farmers cultivating over 1.50 crore acres during kharif and rabi seasons. This will go a long way to revive the agriculture sector and help farmers to come out of the vicious cycle of the debt trap. The Centre should support such initiatives by states to address the present agrarian distress,” Mr Rao said.
He said farmers are concerned about the scarcity of labour for agricultural operations, and urged that agriculture be included in the permitted activities under MGNREGA.
