Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 2: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh today said that Mahatma Gandhi would have been the happiest man today with the new Farm reforms passed by the Centre, as the issue of agriculture and rural prosperity was very close to his heart. He said that the village and farm-centric vision of Bapu was truly addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the new Agricultural Laws, after 70 years of independence.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, as chief guest, was addressing the Gandhi Jayanti programme titled “Mahatma Gandhi’s Experiments with Swachhata – Key to Prosperity” organized by Kendriya Bhandar and Centre for Strategy and Leadership on Gandhi Jayanti at Vigyan bhavan here. He said, the new Farm Laws would not only provide impetus to Indian agriculture to compete at a global stage, but would also help in doubling the income of farmers.
Referring to a series of pro-farmer measures in the last six years like Neem coated urea, Soil Health Card, Kisan Credit Card, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, Fasal Bima Yojna, Dr Jitendra Singh said that all these measures are representative of democratization of Indian Agriculture, since they provide freedom of choice to the farming community for the first time.
Meanwhile, Dr Jitendra Singh also held a semi-virtual interaction to discuss the benefits of the new Agricultural Laws with Panchayat level representatives, Sarpanchs, Panchs, farmers and other local activists in Tehsil Hiranagar of Kathua in his constituency.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the process of fulfilling the dreams of Bapu began after 70 years of Independence by the Modi Government which came into power in 2014. Referring to the early lockdown decision of the Government to fight the Corona Pandemic, the Union Minister said that Swachhta Abhiyan of the last 6 years was a great boon in terms of Individual and Community Hygiene measures, which saved a lot of lives in the country. He said, Corona was an eye opener and it underlined the importance of Cleanliness, a core philosophy of Bapu.
The Union Minister said that the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan or a Self-Reliant India is also a modified version of Gandhiji’s idea of Swaraj. Giving an example, he said that the sensitivity with which the Modi government views the importance for the promotion of Bamboo is evident from the fact the Central Government has recently hiked the import duty by 25 percent on bamboo items to help the domestic bamboo industries like furniture, handicrafts and Agarbatti making in a big way.
In his concluding remarks, Dr Jitendra Singh praised the Kendriya Bhandar for its new work culture in the present government, wherein the turnover increased from Rs 750 cr. in November 2017 to Rs 1717 cr., more than double in three years’ time. He also praised Shri Mukesh Kumar, MD, Kendriya Bhandar for taking new measures during the Pandemic, be it on food items or Corona Kits thus increasing revenue and gaining trust of the people.
Chairperson, Kendriya Bhandar Parmeshwari Bagri, Mukesh Kumar, MD, Kendriya Bhandar, Mayank Agrawal, Director General, Doordarshan, Vikas Sharma, Director & Chief Executive, Centre for Strategy and Leadership and Lt. Col Yuvraj Malik, Director, National Book Trust also addressed the gathering.
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