20,000 Bihar farmers get input subsidy for organic farming
Patna, May 5: In a move to promote organic farming in Bihar, more than 20,000 farmers were on Saturday provided agriculture input interim subsidy of Rs 6,000 each directly in their accounts for cultivating organic vegetables.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, launching a software for advance payment of agriculture input subsidy, first time in the country, said a pilot project to promote organic vegetable farming had been started in the state.
The government has selected 20,173 farmers in four districts of Patna, Nalnda, Vaishali and Samastipur, and provided each of them Rs 6,000 directly in their bank accounts through e-cash facility.
Kumar reiterated his government's commitment to promote organic farming in the state as part of the third phase of Bihar's Agriculture Road Map (2017-22) that will focus on increasing income of farmers, among other things.
He said the road map's main focus was ensuring sustainable development of the agriculture sector by emphasising on organic farming through development of organic corridors.
"Organic farming is one of the focus areas of the agriculture road map. We will promote organic farming and help farmers opt for it in areas along the river Ganga for protection of environment," he said.
Kumar pointed out that 76 per cent of Bihar's population was dependent on agriculture for livelihood.
He claimed that Bihar had recorded growth and improvement in the agriculture sector since the first agriculture road map was implemented for 2008-12, followed by the second for 2012-17. "Our rice, wheat, maize, potato and vegetables production have remarkably increased."
The Chief Minister has repeatedly said that he wanted to have one or two agriculture products from the state on the plate of every Indian in the coming years.
Agriculture is the backbone of Bihar's economy, employing 81 per cent of the workforce and generating nearly 42 per cent of the state's domestic product, according to the state government figures.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
