Assembly elections are due in Bihar in the month of October-November. In such a situation, from Prime Minister Modi to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, we are giving new gifts to the state almost daily. In this series, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of nine highway projects on Monday. Apart from this, the Prime Minister also inaugurated the service 'Ghar Tak Fiber Project' connecting 45,945 villages of the state with an optical fiber network. Addressing the program, the Prime Minister said that along with increasing internet usage, now it is also necessary that the villages of the country have good quality, high-speed internet. He said that if fast internet is available in every village, it will be easy to study in the village. The children of the village, youth will also be able to access the world's books, technology easily at a click. At the same time, taking a dig at the opposition about the Agriculture Bill, he said that some people are seen going out of control with their hands. The Prime Minister clearly said that these changes are not against agricultural mandis. In agricultural markets, the work would have been done like before.
Read here the highlights of the Prime Minister's address-
It is the responsibility of 21st century India to create new systems for the farmers of the country with modern thinking. Our efforts will continue to make the farmers of the country self-reliant. Connectivity certainly plays a big role in this.
During the Corona transition this year, record purchases of wheat have been made from farmers during the Rabi season. This year, in Rabi, including wheat, paddy, pulses, and oilseeds, Rs 1 lakh 13 thousand crores has been given to farmers at MSP. This amount is also more than 30 percent over the previous year.
The number of government purchases made in the last 5 years and the number of government purchases that have taken place in the 5 years before 2014 are testimony to this. If I talk about pulses and oilseeds, then government procurement of pulses and oilseeds has been made almost 24 times more than before.
I assure every farmer of the country that the system of MSP will continue as it was before. Similarly, the way the campaign is run for government procurement every season, they will continue to run as before.
After these historical changes in the agricultural sector, some people are seen losing control of their hands. So now these people are trying to mislead farmers on MSP. These are the same people who have been sitting under their feet for years on the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee on MSP.
Where there are dairies, it is easier to sell milk to the livestock owners nearby, the dairies also take care of the cattle herders. Even after all this, even though milk procures dairy, the animal remains the farmer. Similar changes have now opened up the way for agriculture.
In states like Madhya Pradesh, UP, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, pulses are abundant. In these states, farmers have received 15 to 25 percent more prices than last year directly. Pulses mills have also purchased directly from farmers there, paid directly to them. Now the nation can guess why suddenly some people are starting to have problems. In many places, the question is also being raised as to what will happen to agricultural mandis. Agricultural markets will not be closed at all.
There is an old saying that there is power in an organization. Today we have more farmers who cultivate very little land. When such farmers of a region do the same by forming an organization, then their cost is also reduced and the right price is also ensured.
A huge campaign has been going on in the country for the last 5-6 years to fix the offices of agricultural mandis, to get computerization done there. Therefore, who says that after the new agricultural reforms, agricultural mandis will be finished, then he is lying to the farmers.
I want to make it clear here that these laws, these changes are not against the agricultural mandis. In agricultural markets, the work would have been done like before. Rather it is our NDA government that has continuously worked to modernize the agricultural mandis of the country.
New agricultural reforms have given the freedom to every farmer of the country that he can sell his crop, his fruits, and vegetables to anyone, anywhere. Now, if he gets more profit in the market, he will sell his crop there. If there is more profit than anywhere else in the market, selling there will not be prohibited.
In our country till now, the system of selling the product, which was the law, tied the hands and feet of the farmers. Under the guise of these laws, such powerful gangs were born in the country who were taking advantage of the helplessness of the farmers. After all, how long did this go on?
The Parliament of the country yesterday passed very historic laws giving new rights to the farmers of the country. I congratulate the people of the country, the farmers of the country, and the hopeful people of the bright future of the country for this. These reforms are the need of 21st century India.
Bridges are also being built on the Gandak and Kosi rivers. Today the foundation stone of three new four-lane bridges has been laid. Of these, two bridges are to be built on the river Ganga and one bridge on the Kosi river.
The biggest obstacle in Bihar's connectivity has been due to large rivers. This is the reason that special attention was paid to the construction of bridges when the PM package was announced. A total of 17 bridges are being built over Ganga Ji under the PM package, most of which have been completed.