"They cannot see respect of farmers": Shivraj Singh Chouhan slams opposition

New Delhi [India], August 5 : Union Minister for Agriculture, Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday slammed the opposition leaders in the Rajya Sabha for not 'prioritising the farmers' and said that the opposition cannot see the respect of farmers.
In an address to the Rajya Sabha, the Union Minister also highlighted the "Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi" scheme of the Union government and said that due to this scheme, farmers have become self-reliant and empowered.
"We were discussing Kisan Samman Nidhi. Congress talked about direct assistance to farmers but Congress never made a scheme like Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi made this scheme. They (opposition) will not understand but the amount of Rs 6000 matters for small farmers. Due to this Kisan Samman Nidhi, farmers have become self-reliant, farmers have also become empowered and the respect of farmers has also increased. They (opposition) cannot see the respect of farmers," Chouhan said.
The Union Minister claimed that farmers were killed during the rule of Congress governments and listed out such incidents that occurred in different states of the country.
"When this Congress was in power in different states, farmers were killed. In 1986 when the Congress was in power in Bihar, 23 were killed in firing. In 1988, on the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi in Delhi, 2 farmers were killed. In 1988, they fired on farmers in Meerut and 5 farmers were killed. In August 1995, six farmers in Haryana were killed in police shooting," Chouhan said.
"When I became Agriculture Minister, I felt that I should read the speeches of all the Prime Ministers. When I read those speeches, I was surprised and shocked as farmers were never a priority of the Congress...When our leader Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India, I read his speeches, you will find that he talked about farmers in his speeches...PM Narendra Modi has farmer welfare in his heart and that is why he talks about farmers," the Union Minister added.
Chouhan also launched a veiled attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for making a "reel" with the farmers in Sonipat.
"A leader who organises big yatras. During that yatra, he went to Sonipat in Haryana. He made a reel to make it look real. There were more cameramen than farmers...He goes to the field with cameras and does drama. When he is shown the plough he asks what is this? When a former Prime Minister came to know that the price of red chilli is more than green chilli, he asked the farmers why don't you grow red chilli," he said.
In July 2023, on his way from Delhi to Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), Rahul Gandhi reached Sonipat, where he met farmers at various villages of Baroda. He joined them in the sowing process, as they worked at the fields in Baroda and Madina.
Earlier on Friday, Shivraj Singh Chouhan highlighted the Narendra Modi government's decade-long efforts to support farmers, promising the continued availability of affordable fertilizers.
In an address to the Rajya Sabha, Chouhan said, "I want to assure the crores of farmer brothers and sisters across the country that the government under Modi Ji and the Bharatiya Janata Party will continue to provide cheap fertilizers."
Chouhan detailed the significant subsidies being offered, noting that urea, typically worth Rs2,366, is provided to farmers at just Rs266. Similarly, Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), valued at Rs2,433, is available for Rs1,350.
Chouhan stated that the government has increased fertilizer subsidies over the years, with the subsidy amount rising from Rs71,280 crore in 2013-14 to Rs1,95,420 crore in 2023-24.
"We did not let the burden of increased prices of DAP due to international conditions fall on the farmers. Instead, we introduced a special package of an additional Rs 2,625 crore to ensure that farmers could access affordable fertilizers," he said.