The PM said the government has made important improvements in the farming sector. “Farmers have been freed from issues related to wholesale markets. Now, farmers can sell their produce where they get the highest value for it,” said Modi.

Stating that agriculture will play a huge role in the country’s economy in the future, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that Jhansi and Bundelkhand region will put in all its might to ensure that India becomes “aatma nirbhar” or self-reliant.

The Prime Minister said this during the inauguration of two buildings of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University in Jhansi district via video-conferencing. A state government spokesperson said one of the building would be used for educational purposes and the other for administrative needs.

“Rani Lakshmi Bai had vowed that she will not give up Jhansi. In the current times, Jhansi and the Bundelkhand region will put in all its force to ensure that India becomes self-reliant. Agriculture will play a huge role in this… It is important that our farmers become entrepreneurs. This will lead to new jobs on a huge scale and will result in more people getting employment,” the Prime Minister said.

The PM said the government has made important improvements in the farming sector. “Farmers have been freed from issues related to wholesale markets. Now, farmers can sell their produce where they get the highest value for it,” said Modi.

The PM said constant work was being done to link agriculture with technology and agricultural universities have a major role in this. “Six years ago, there was just one agricultural university, but now there are three central agricultural universities in the country now,” said Modi, who added that three more such national institutes would be established.

“There is a need for bringing in education related to agriculture and its application at the school level as well. Attempts are being made to bring in agricultural education at the level of middle schools in rural areas,” said Modi.

He said work was being done constantly on the scheme to bring drinking water to every house in the Bundelkhand region, at a brisk pace. “For the pipeline to be laid out, more than 500 projects have been approved for Rs 10,000 crore. Projects worth more than Rs 3,000 crore have begun,” he said. The PM said to increase the groundwater level, ‘Atal Bhujal’ scheme is being operated. “The government is working towards making people get the benefits of the rivers in the region,” said Modi.

Modi said the government is committed to the development of drought-prone Bundelkhand region and around 500 projects worth over Rs 10,000 crore have been sanctioned for improving water availability.

Observing that the benefit of water from three rivers, Ken, Betwa and Yamuna, was not reaching the Bundelkhand region, the Prime Minister said the proposed Ken-Betwa river linking project has the potential to change the fortune of the area and the Centre is in discussion with both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on this issue.

He said projects such as Bundelkhand Expressway and Defence Industrial Corridor, among others, would create thousands of jobs.

In his address via video-conferencing, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said because of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), the issue of drought in the Bundelkhand region has been addressed to a certain extent. “To address the issue of people abandoning cows after they stop giving milk, 1,535 cow shelters have been established where 1.54 lakh cows are living. These shelters have a big role in agriculture,” said Adityanath.