Auraiya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 4 (HBTV): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday addressed the Kisan Samman Samaroh in Auraiya, highlighting the government's efforts to support farmers.

He emphasised that since 2014, farmers have become a key focus of the government's political agenda, owing to initiatives launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chief Minister Adityanath also conducted an aerial survey of maize crops during his journey from Lucknow to Auraiya.

‘You must have seen for the first time in 2014 that the farmer who provides food can also become a part of the political agenda of a government, when PM Modi started the Soil Health Card Scheme,’ said Adityanath, addressing the gathering.

He outlined various central government initiatives aimed at securing the future of farmers, including the Soil Health Card Scheme, the Prime Minister's Agricultural Irrigation Scheme, the Prime Minister's Agricultural Insurance Scheme to guard against crop failures, and the Prime Minister's Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme, which provides direct financial support to over 12 crore farmers across the country.

‘After the Soil Health Card, the Prime Minister's Agricultural Irrigation Scheme and then the Prime Minister's Agricultural Insurance Scheme were implemented and the Prime Minister's Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme was implemented,’ the Chief Minister stated.

According to Adityanath, these initiatives have yielded visible results, with the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi emerging as the world’s largest direct benefit transfer scheme. Over INR 3.25 lakh crore has been credited directly into farmers’ bank accounts.

‘Twelve crore farmers in the country benefit from the Prime Minister's Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme. This double-engine government is also working towards making the future of its farmers beautiful and secure in the state. When our government came in 2017, farmers were committing suicide. There were no facilities anywhere,’ he added.

He also recalled the state's 2017 loan waiver programme, which provided relief to lakhs of indebted farmers.

‘In 2017, when we came, first of all, we took forward the loan waiver programme of INR 36,000 crore for 86 lakh farmers, and after the loan waiver, we resorted to the Prime Minister's Agricultural Irrigation Scheme to develop the irrigation capacity in the state,’ Adityanath said.

(ANI)