DAVANAGERE
Agriculture Minister BC Patil said that instead of asking for grants for the construction of temples and religious buildings, the elected representatives of the people, should submit proposals for construction of school rooms for their village.
He was speaking after inaugurating four school rooms donated by OS Dayananda couple to Government Primary School in Nalkunda village.
The work of making the country’s future leaders begins with the school itself, so that it is better to build schools of worship than the temple. Many people forget the place they read and come to town, but OS Dayananda and his family have donated the class rooms to the school they had read and priased their work. By this, they have given inspiration to others, the minister said.
Only the farmers have the power to create food in the country. The government has implemented many schemes to bring about a change in the lives of farmers. The central government is subsidizing fertilizers so that farmers do not get into debt. 53 lakh farmers have been benefitted from Prime Minister’s Kisan Samman project, he said.
The aim is to bring about a comprehensive change in farming practices. Farmers should adopt a comprehensive farming policy, soil testing before sowing. It is only when the work is done to provide the necessary nutrients and salinity for the land that the high yield can be achieved economically, he said.
50 per cent reservation for farmers’ children has been implemented in all agricultural universities in the state. Farmers’ children have been given scholarships through the Farmers Vidyanidhi Scheme. Particularly for the females of all classes of farmers, a scholarship of Rs 2000 is provided. as a subsidy for drip irrigation. The farmers are paid subsidy of Rs 250 for 10 litres diesel to take up sowing of land. The government has instituted many plans to empower the farmers such as 90 per cent subsidy for drip irrigation. To sum up, the government has given priority for the upliftment of farmers and strengthen them both economically and socially, the minister said.
SA Ravindranath, MLA from Davangere North Assembly constituency said that in modern times many get educated and settle in the big cities. At this moment, the conribution Dayananda and family and their social service is appreciable. The minister urged the agriculture minister to hold talks with the chief minister regarding providing support price for the products as well as for purchase of tractors by farmers.
MLA of Mayakonda assembly constituency Prof Linganna, Donor OS Dayanand,
Barren land development board president Anaberu Jeevan Murthy, former MLA Basavaraja Nayak, Shivamogga agriculture university managing committee member Ajaganna, Suresh, Siddaramareddy, Sunandamma, O Shivalingappa, Gram Panchayat member Jameela Banu Samiulla, Joint director of agriculture department Srinivas Chintal, students, villagers participated.
