Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday wrote a letter to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi expressing his concern over the condition of farmers in Delhi. Chouhan claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi is extremely indifferent towards farmers and that it has no sympathy for them. He alleged that both Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi have never taken any appropriate decisions in the interest of the farmers.
In his letter he wrote that the farmers of the national capital are being deprived of the benefits of the welfare schemes of the Central Government. "The AAP government has been in power in Delhi for 10 years, but former CM Kejriwal has always cheated the farmers. The AAP government did not implement the farmer-friendly schemes of the central government in Delhi. The farmers of Delhi are being deprived of the benefits of the welfare schemes of the Centre," Chouhan said.
'Farmers of Delhi met me'
The Agriculture Minister said that the farmers met him, and they said that they are not getting the benefits of many schemes. "AAP did not send any proposals for our Seed Village scheme. We have a mechanisation scheme, a micro-irrigation scheme, but there are not one but many schemes like Drop More Crop. I have mentioned it in detail in the letter," he said in a video message.
"The Centre is ready to give money from its side, but due to the Delhi government, the farmers are not getting the benefits of those schemes. I said that political competition should not become an obstacle in the welfare of the farmer. Both the Centre and the state should together implement the welfare schemes of the farmer at the grassroots level," Chouhan said.
Alleging that the Delhi government has not sent any proposals for schemes in which 60 per cent of the money is given by the Centre and the state has to contribute 40 per cent of the money, he said that these benefits were not being received by the farmers.
"Due to non-implementation of the Agricultural Development Scheme, the farmers of Delhi are not able to take advantage of schemes like agricultural mechanisation, micro irrigation, soil health, crop residue management, traditional agricultural development scheme, subsidy for agroforestry, and crop diversification," Chouhan stated.
