MP govt to give Rs 900 per month to farmers rearing indigenous cows

 Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also informed that the MP government is going to start special activities to promote natural farming in 100 villages each across 52 districts of the state

The Madhya Pradesh government has said it will give Rs 900 per month to farmers rearing indigneous cows. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made the announcement on Monday while virtually addressing a Niti Ayog workshop on agriculture. The CM also announced the constitution of the Madhya Pradesh Natural Agriculture Development Board to promote natural farming. Desi (indigenous) cows are essential for natural farming, farmers should rear at least one desi cow. We have decided to provide Rs 900 per month to such farmers. So, a farmer will get a total of Rs 10,800 in a year for a desi cow, Chouhan said in his address during this workshop.

He also informed that the MP government is going to start special activities to promote natural farming in 100 villages each across 52 districts of the state. With the current Kharif crop season, natural farming activities will start in 5,200 villages of the state. We are looking for such farmers. So far, 1.65 lakh farmers in the state have shown interest in natural farming. Workshops will also be organised in the state to create an atmosphere for natural farming, he said. The CM further said five full-time workers will be appointed in each block to promote natural farming and they will be paid an honorarium..

Govt eyes over Rs 5K-cr unspent MPLADS funds amid coronavirus outbreak

320 legislators come forward to contribute to PM CARES Fund

Questions about the need for a new PM CARES Fund notwithstanding, nearly half of our MPs (Members of Parliament) have until now consented to allocate Rs 1 crore from their respective MPLADS to the recently set up PM CARES Fund to fight COVID-19. The government is hopeful that more MPs will come forward in the days to come, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have reached out to not just their party MPs but those from other friendly parties as well to give their consent to allocate money to the PM CARES Fund. Significantly, as of March 4, 2020, as much as Rs 5,275.24 crore was unspent in the MPLADS, or MP Local Area Development Scheme, funds (see box).

The PM CARES — the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund — was instituted earlier this week to provide relief for Covid-19. The Congress and other opposition parties have questioned the need for setting up the PM CARES Fund when there already exists the PM National Relief Fund (PMNRF). According to the PM’s website, PMNRF had a corpus of Rs 3,800 crore at the end of 2018-19 fiscal.

Until Tuesday evening, only 320 of the 779 MPs (of the total 788) had consented that Rs 1 crore should be allocated to PM CARES Fund from their respective MPLADS. Sources in Parliament, however, said dozens of MPs sent their consent on Wednesday as well. Earlier this week, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had asked MPs to contribute Rs 1 crore from their MPLADS to the PM CARES Fund. They had also asked MPs to contribute a month’s salary to the PM CARES Fund…Read More

No drinking water, no vote: MP village threatens boycott of upcoming polls

Banners were also seen installed outside one of the polling booths which read ‘we will boycott elections if safe drinking water not provided to us’

As the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh are inching closer, residents in Damoh’s Jabera are staging protests over the lack of clean drinking water in the village. Protesting villagers have warned the local administration of boycotting polls over the unavailability of clean drinking water.

Urging the government to address the issue at the earliest, one of the villagers told ANI, “We are facing the problem of inadequate clean drinking water since 30-40 years. We have approached the district administration several times demanding a pond from where we (villagers) can fetch clean water for domestic use, but our demands have gone in vain. We won’t vote if safe drinking is not provided to us. We have pledged to boycott the elections this time.”

Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election 2018

Meanwhile, a girl, who was seen carrying a water container on her head and walking down a pothole-ridden road in the scorching heat, revealed that as the villagers have no proper water facility, they are compelled to travel at least two to five kilometres each time to get clean water for drinking or domestic purposes. The girl also said that due to this, children are bound to miss classes.

Expressing the ordeal, another villager claimed that with the onset of summer, the situation takes a turn for the worse as villagers are bound to leave to the village due to lack of clean water. “We have raised this issue several times in front of Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Collector, and Member of Parliament (MP) but this has borne no fruit. We are suffering a lot. We have decided to boycott elections this time if no action is taken. We will also not vote for 2019 Lok Sabha elections if the situation remains persistent,” the villager said.

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