Country worried about income of farmers, trying to increase it continuously: PM Modi

New Delhi [India], October 13 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that for the first time the country has worried about the income of the farmer and is continuously trying to increase their income.
"No matter how educated and educated a person is, if he does not have farming skills, he will never be able to do farming. If this is the case then why do we not call farming as an enterprise? Dr Balasaheb Vikhe Patil asked this based on what he experienced on the ground. The answer to this question of Balasaheb Vikhe Patil lies in today's historical agricultural reforms. Today, opportunities are being created to move farming from the role of a farmer to an entrepreneur and hence to take him towards entrepreneurship," Prime Minister said at an event to release the autobiography of Dr Balasaheb Vikhe Patil and rename Pravara Rural Education Society as Loknete Dr Balasaheb Vikhe Patil Pravara Rural Education Society.
"For the first time, the country has worried about the income of the farmer and has continuously tried to increase his income. Whether it is the decision to implement or increase the MSP, the neem coating of urea, the government has tried to solve every problem of farmers," he added.
The comments of the Prime Minister come amid Opposition protests over the Central government's move to implement agriculture sector reforms.
Prime Minister also highlighted agriculture schemes implemented for farmers welfare.
"With the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme, farmers have been liberated from going to others to borrow money for small expenses. Under this scheme, Rs 1 lakh crore have been directly transferred to the bank accounts of the farmers. Livestock farmers, farmers and fishermen, all three have been given the facility of Kisan Credit Card to get easy loan from banks. About 2.50 crore small farmer families who were earlier deprived of the Kisan Credit Card are now being given this facility by running a special campaign," he said.
The Prime Minister also talked about the various agriculture-related schemes and projects being carried out in Maharashtra.
"Sugarcane crop is a very perfect example of a combination of new and old methods. Now industries are also being set up to extract ethanol from sugarcane. Around 100 such industries are running in Maharashtra too and dozens of such industries have been approved. Unprecedented work has also been done on cold-chain, mega food park and agro-Processing infrastructure. The farmers are also going to benefit from the modernisation of village haats to big mandis," he said.
"Under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, work was done at a rapid pace to complete 26 projects in Maharashtra for many years. 9 of these projects have been completed so far. With the completion of these projects, nearly 5 lakh hectares of land has got the facility of irrigation," he added.
He also lauded the role of microfinance in the economic and social system of villages.
"A scheme like Mudra Yojana has increased the chances of self-employment in the village. Not only this, over 7 crore sisters belonging to the Self Help Group in the country have been given a loan of more than Rs 3 lakh crore," Prime Minister Modi said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Ahmednagar MP Dr Sujay Vikhe Patil, officials of Pravara Medical Trust and Pravara Sugar Factory were also present during the event. (ANI)