NITI Aayog sub-group of CMs pitch for using MGNREGS resources to cut farming costs

NEW DELHI: The sub-group of Chief Ministers, in its first meeting at NITI Aayog on Thursday, arrived at a consensus to utilise MGNREGS resources to cut down on farm input costs to help raise the income of farmers.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, while taking part in the deliberations through video-conferencing, sought raising the MGNREGS wages to bring them on a par with the minimum wages in states.

The Prime Minister had constituted the sub-group to suggest ways on the convergence of MGNREGS with agriculture during the fourth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog.

The Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal CMs sent their written submissions, skipping the meeting. UP CM Yogi Adityanath suggested that the MGNREGS resources could be utilised for fencing of farmlands to protect crops from animals.

“Issues which found concurrence with the CMs included reducing cost of cultivation, enhancing production through efficient use of water, providing remunerative price to farmers by incentivising aggregation and market infrastructure, rehabilitation of agricultural land and assets after natural hazards or re-plantation, using MGNREGA fund and bringing diversification in agriculture to help in maximising profit,”said a senior NITI Aayog official.

Members of sub-group

Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Convenor), N Chandra Babu Naidu, Yogi Adityanath, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee.