Gorakhpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday here launched PM-Kisan, the assured annual income support scheme for the farmer, during which a women self-help group from Puri district of Odisha wished to see being re-elected as the Prime Minister.
Interacting with the PM over video conferencing from Bhubaneswar, Gouri Mohapatra, who runs the self-help group said, “We pray to Lord Jagannath that you return back to power”. About 242 women are engaged in this self-help group, focussing on farming activities and mushroom cultivation.
Odisha was among a handful of states selected to interact with the PM during the launch of the scheme.
Holding that the Centres welfare measures have proved beneficial for women and farmers in Odisha, Mohapatra hoped the farmer’s income would double following the lunch of the PM-Kisan scheme.
Modi also interacted with a women self-help group from West Bengal, asked them to put pressure on the Mamata Banerjee government to support the scheme and cooperate in its implementation in the State.
Odisha and West Bengal are key states for BJP in the coming elections. Both these states give 63 seats to the Lok Sabha. Winning a good number of seats in these two states in the polls could help BJP offset some of the expectant losses in the Hindi heartland states. Kerala and Karnataka were the other two states from where farmers interacted with Modi.
Launching the PM-Kisan scheme with direct transfer of Rs 2000 as the first instalment to the bank account of 1.01 crore farmers, PM cautioned those states who have not extended support to the initiative. “I would like to caution those states that should they indulge in pity politics, the farmers will destroy their designs,” the PM said. He was apparently indicating at non-BJP ruled states who are yet to send the list of beneficiaries under the scheme.
He also slammed the Congress for misleading the farming community through false promises and assurances. Stating that loan waiver was only hogwash, Modi said that out of the Rs six lakh crore loan of the farm sector, the Congress-led government had only waived off Rs 52000 crore.
The PM-Kisan scheme assures income support of Rs 6000 to farmers owning up to two hectares of land.
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