Lucknow: Samajwadi Party national president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that a strong national economy depends on the prosperity of farmers, asserting that those who feed the country must receive adequate support and remunerative returns for their produce.
Speaking to the media after a farmers’ conference at the Samajwadi Party headquarters in Lucknow, Yadav recalled former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh’s contribution to farmers and said he had consistently raised their concerns and taken decisions aimed at advancing the farming community.
Yadav criticised the BJP government, alleging that farmers were facing difficulties in obtaining fertilisers, seeds, pesticides and water on time. He also questioned the imposition of GST on agricultural machinery and alleged that farmers were being pushed towards the use of nano urea. He said an SP government would ensure arrangements for fertilisers, seeds, water, affordable pesticides and agricultural machinery.
Yadav said farmers should receive remunerative prices for their crops and alleged that cultivators were facing losses across pulses, oilseeds, wheat, rice, sugarcane, potato and milk. He said an SP government would expand dairy infrastructure on a large scale and provide special facilities to farmers.
He also referred to electricity and irrigation, saying that during the previous SP government, separate electricity feeders had been introduced for agricultural use in Muzaffarnagar. He promised that an SP government would establish power plants to provide affordable electricity, make irrigation free and ensure payment to sugarcane farmers within 24 to 48 hours. He also promised jobs and employment opportunities for young people.
On recent flooding, Yadav alleged that farmers had suffered substantial losses to paddy, sugarcane and pulse crops and demanded compensation from the government. He attributed flooding partly to silt accumulation in rivers, alleging that inadequate desilting had reduced river depth and water-carrying capacity.
Yadav also criticised flood-control infrastructure in Lucknow, alleging that faulty embankment designs had contributed to waterlogging. He questioned why areas along the Gomti Riverfront had remained free of similar waterlogging while areas on the other side of embankments faced inundation. He also attributed flooding and waterlogging in Gorakhpur to shortcomings in the government’s planning and infrastructure management.
He thanked the farmers who attended the conference and reiterated that the SP would prioritise farmers’ welfare and agricultural development.
