Bihar minister claims farmers to be self-reliant by 2022

Patna, Aug 31 (IANS) The BJP’s Bihar unit is trying every trick in the book to connect with voters ahead of the Assembly polls in the state, as the party organised a one-day state-level meet in Patna dedicated to farmers.

Prem Kumar, BJP leader and Bihar’s Agriculture Minister, said: “With the help of the Centre, the Bihar government is making all possible efforts to make farmers and workers related to agriculture, fisheries, cattle farming self-reliant by 2022.”

Ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls, the Centre is also running a high-profile campaign of Self-Reliant India. Bihar is known as an agriculture-based state as 89 per cent of its people live in rural areas and 76 per cent of them are directly involved in the agriculture sector.

“We have discussed agricultural losses of farmers due to natural calamity in the state. We know that floods and hailstorms have devastated crops especially in north Bihar. Farmers have registered losses of over Rs 12,000 crore. The state government has given subsidy to the tune of Rs 1,200 crore to farmers,” Kumar said.

“We have prepared a report on crop losses of farmers. It will soon be submitted in the Cabinet to be passed as a Bill. Farmers are expected to get benefits of government aid soon,” the minister said.

Floods in north Bihar are not a new issue. In fact, floods hit at least 20 districts of the state every year in the monsoon season. Districts like Supaul, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Katihar and Khagaria are inundated for 4 to 6 months every year.

–IANS

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