New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh is one of the tallest BJP leaders from Bihar, and is trusted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has asked him to prepare a blueprint to boot agricultural productivity in India.
In an exclusive interview to India TV, Radha Mohan Singh also spoke about Bihar politics, saying : "...now that he (Nitish Kumar) has joined hands with Lalu Prasad, his votes will come back to us and NDA will register an even better performance in the Assembly elections."
"Nitish Kumar got very demoralized after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. He did not have the courage to stand in front of Modi, that's why he resigned as the CM of Bihar. He is also spreading the lie that the central government is not offering bonus on paddy. The truth, however, is that the Bihar govt was not even procuring paddy. They started procurement only after the High Court intervened."
Singh is gung-ho about the new scheme for distributing soil health cards to farmers across India. This scheme will be launched on February 19 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Suratgarh, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan.
Singh said, farmers should trust this government because it is led by a Prime Minister who has experienced all the hardships that a coom farmer goes through in his daily life.
Singh spoke on a number of issues ranging from government's plan for agricultural sector to forcible conversion and Bihar politics.
Here goes the full text of the interview:
Q: Modi government has completed 8 months in office now. What are the main achievements of your ministry in this period?
Radha Mohan Singh: Unfortunately, the issues concerning farmers of this country did not get any serious attention even after 67 years of independence. The farmers will be happier only when the productivity goes up and what was needed for increasing the productivity was to provide the farmers with Soil Health Card. You will be surprised to know that the scheme was launched in 2007-08 but not a single penny was spent on making Soil Health Cards.
For setting up laboratories, Rs 112 crore was allocated till March 2014. After our govt took over the reins of power, Rs 86 crore has been allocated for laboratories in this financial year only. Our PM has approved a scheme worth 668 crore for providing farmers with soil health cards over a period of three years. We'll provide all of 14 crore farmers with soil health cards.
Second important factor for increasing productivity is irrigation. Despite launching many schemes, we have failed to provide water to 60 % of agricultural land in this country. Under Prime Minister Irrigation Scheme, we have plans for making water available to every part of agricultural land in the country.
These two schemes- Soil Health Card scheme and Prime Minister Irrigation Scheme- will help increase the agricultural productivity.
Use of science is equally important. Even after 67 years of independence, India has only one agricultural research university in Pusa. Our PM has made announcement of coming up with two more agricultural universities- one in Assam and the other in Jharkhand. Even fund has been allotted for these new universities.
Q: Can you elaborate a little more on benefits of Soil Health Cards?
Radha Mohan Singh: The farmers are normally unaware of the factors that are damaging their agricultural lands. They are unaware of the right selection and right proportion of pests, medicines and chemical fertilizers to be used for better productivity. Soil Health Card will equip them with all these information.
Q: During election campaign, Narendra Modi had promised farmers of the country that they will see ‘achhe din' (good days) if he comes to power. After 8 months, even your opponents are asking if ‘achhe din' have arrived for farmers.
Radha Mohan Singh: We have increased the number of agricultural extension workers in the country, who educate farmers on scientific methods to be used for farming, from 18,000 to 28,000.
We have plans for strengthening agricultural science centers across the country. We are coming up with two more agricultural universities. Since marketing is a very important factor, we have taken initiatives to offer ‘e-marketing' to farmers across the country. We have also created ‘price stabilization fund'. We will take help of states in our efforts and results will be visible soon.
Q: The farmers do not get right price for their products because of the middlemen. What are you doing to check this?
Radha Mohan Singh: Earlier, the farmers who produced fruits and vegetables had no choice but to go to markets to sell their products. Now we have separated them from ‘mandi law'. Since it's a state subject, we requested them to implement them. 12 states have responded positively. We implemented it in Delhi when it was under President Rule.
And you can see the results. This time, the prices of potato and onion did not cross Rs 40 per kg in contrast to the times when onions were sold up to Rs 100 per kg and potatoes were sold above Rs 50 per kg. See, after sowing the seeds, you need to wait before you could harvest the crop.
Even in case of fisheries, impressive growth has been registered after our government was sworn-in. Marine fishery has seen a growth of 8 percent while inland fishery has seen 13 percent growth.
Similarly, we have launched a scheme called ‘Gokul mission' for cows of Indian breed. The govt has already allotted Rs. 350 crore for this scheme.
Q: You say that prices have not gone up but even today tomato is selling at Rs. 40 per kg in Delhi.
Radha Mohan Singh: It can be a market specific rate. It's not the same everywhere. I can tell you that prices of potato and onion did not cross Rs 40 per kg this time across the country.
Q: During election campaign, you had promised to set up cold storages across the country. What's the state?
Radha Mohan Singh: There is a report that says that around 5-18 percent of vegetables and fruits are destroyed due to lack of cold storages. Both agriculture and processing ministries are looking for solutions.
Q: Food distribution is a big challenge and even the Supreme Court has raised concern over the fact that the wheat grains are decomposed in FCI godowns but not distributed among poorer section of the society.
Radha Mohan Singh: There are some anomalies in the functioning of FCI. It comes under Food and Civil Supplies ministry and a committee headed by Shanta Kumar is looking into this matter.
Q: PM Narendra Modi has given a call for ‘Make in India'. Do you think it can be applied to agriculture sector as well like ‘contract farming?'
Radha Mohan Singh: ‘Make in India' is not meant for agriculture sector. I would like to tell you one thing. It was Lal Bahadur Shastri who gave the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'. Atal Ji added ‘Jai Vigyan' in that. Our PM Modi announced just after taking over the reins of power that agriculture will be a priority for the government and he has taken many steps as I told you earlier.
Q: The share of agriculture in the GDP is decreasing continuously. Are you doing anything to check this trend?
Radha Mohan Singh: As I said agriculture was ignored since independence. Now you have a Prime Minister who has gone through all the hardships in life and therefore he understands everything. He has his experience as Gujarat CM as well. This government is giving full attention to agriculture sector now. And things will definitely improve.
Q: What is your stand on genetically modified seeds?
Radha Mohan Singh: The matter is sub-judice and I would wait for the judgment. Right now, I won't say anything more on this.
Q: There is pressure on India to reduce subsidy to farmers. What is your stand on this demand?
Radha Mohan Singh: The Congress govt had promised to WTO last time that it will consider the issue of subsidy to farmers next time but our PM made it very clear that there is no question of taking any decision on this matter under pressure from foreign countries. The previous govt, unfortunately, had promised to look into the matter and it created an awkward situation for us. Nevertheless, the PM took a firm stand on this issue. We'll take our own decisions.
Q: There is perception that PM Modi is autocratic by nature and he doesn't give enough space to his ministers. You have been working with him for last 8 months. What is your perception?
Radha Mohan Singh: Many People just talk about poverty but our PM has seen everything. You can image the mindset of a person who has gone through all the hardship. The nation will benefit from his 10-12 years of experience as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
In meetings of cabinet, ministers get all the opportunity to share their views and am sure cabinet ministers are getting such wide freedom for the first time.
Q: Narendra Modi came to power on the plank of development. Some of his ministers are giving statements that can shift the attention away from development.
Radha Mohan Singh: A personal opinion can't be the opinion of the government. An exception can't become an example. It should also be seen in what context that statement was given.
Q: What are your views on issues like ‘religious conversion' and ‘ghar wapasi'?
Radha Mohan Singh: Those who are making religious conversion as issue should come forward and support the government in bringing in legislation against forcible conversion.
Q: Why is the Prime Minister silent on this issue? Why is he not speaking out?
Radha Mohan Singh: PM is busy with his work. Those who are making these allegations have actually no work at hand. If they are serious then let them support the government in bringing the anti-conversion legislation as the parliamentary affairs minister has suggested.
Q: Coming to politics of Bihar, what ramifications do you see on BJP-led NDA's prospects after coming together of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad?
Radha Mohan Singh: See, during Lok Sabha elections, Nitish Kumar had definitely cut into some of our votes. But now that he has joined hands with Lalu Prasad, those votes will come back to us and NDA will register an even better performance in the Assembly elections.
Q: You and your party had worked very closely with Nitish Kumar in the past. Why did the relationship turn so bitter?
Radha Mohan Singh: Nitish Kumar got very demoralized after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. He did not have the courage to stand in front of Modi, that's why he resigned as the CM of Bihar. He is also spreading the lie that the central government is not offering bonus on paddy. The truth, however, is that the Bihar govt was not even procuring paddy. They started procurement only after the High Court intervened.
