Bhopal: Entering into a fresh confrontation with the BJP, the Kamal Nath government has decided to discontinue the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana, a farmer scheme initiated in 2017 by then CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The scheme was aimed at helping farmers tackle the price slump in farm sector, but critics say it helped traders more.
The contentious scheme was announced by Chouhan in the aftermath of a 10-day farmer agitation in 2017 after the violence during Mansaur agitation.
“During constant consultations with the farmers, it emerged that farm prices slipped since the scheme was announced and led to losses to farmers,” agriculture minister Sachin Yadav told News18. “So after plenty of deliberations, we decided to discontinue the scheme.”
The minister said the government would be coming up with another pro-farmer scheme. “Farmers weren’t benefiting in any of the schemes run by the previous BJP government,” alleged Yadav.
Hitting back at the government decision to discontinue the scheme, Chouhan tweeted, “We would welcome any move by the state government to improve Bhavantar, but their intent does not seem to make payments to farmers. We won’t let it happen.”
In a letter to successor Kamal Nath, the former CM warned that he would be compelled to protest if the state government discontinues Bhavantar and tries “dodging” payments to farmers. “Implementing previous government’s decisions is the responsibility of the Congress government,” said Chouhan.
The Congress in the past too, had criticised the scheme by calling it an eyewash. The party persistently alleged that the scheme benefited the traders more rather than helping out the distressed farmers.
Comments
0 comment