Mangal Dam will rejuvenate farmers in Jharkhand

Raghubar Das

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Saturday said that the completion of the multi-crore rupee Mangal Dam will bring with it a new hope in the lives of farmers of the state. Addressing a public meeting, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stones for six projects at Chiyanki airport ground here, he said the entire Palamau division comprising Garhwa and Latehar districts have always been drought-prone, due to which the farmers have been forced to migrate in search of livelihood, despite having their own land.

He said once the construction work is completed, the farmers will be able to grow two-three crops. He said that the UPA under the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took no initiative to complete the pending projects. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be thanked on behalf of the entire state for making efforts for completion of the project which would help the farmers of Bihar and Jharkhand, he said.

Till 2014, the irrigation facility was available on 91,323 hecatre of land but in these four years it has increased to 2.10 lakh hectare, which is more than 100 percent increase, Das said. Das said that former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Sashtri had given the slogan of 'Jai Jawan Jai Kissan', which under the tenure of UPA government, became pathetic but things changed under Modi, and the double engine of growth was ensuring all round development of Jharkhand.

He said that in the month of April farmers will get separate feeders through which they would get six hours of uninterrupted power for agricultural purposes. He said that under Ujjwala Yojana the state was giving free LPG connections to people along with stove, and was also paying for the first refill of the cylinder. In the next phase another 14 lakh women, who have ration and Aadhar cards, would be provided LPG connections since the government wants to make sure that at least 60 per cent of poor women use LPG to cook food, the chief minister said.

He also said that under the Mukhyamantri Krishi Aashirwad Yojana, a sum of Rs 2,250 crore would be spent, so that farmers can get Rs 5,000 per acre to sow their crops before the Kharif season. This would help in removing the middlemen also, he said, adding, Jharkhand was the lone state, which was paying the premium for the crop insurance. The chief minister said that he did not believe in making tall claims but asked the people to ponder over between the difference of 2014 and 2018 and ask opposition the questions as to why they kept on "looting" the common man.

' Launching an attack on the Congress, including Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, he said that both of them are worried as their "wrong-doings" and "scams" were coming out in the open, and their sole aim was to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He alleged that the Congress and all the other opposition parties only used the poor for their vote-bank politics in the last 67 years, and looted them. He said that the opposition is only making false allegations to mislead people and asked the masses to stand with the Prime Minister so that the dream of New India can be realised.

The chief minister also highlighted the benefits of 'Mukhyamantri Sukanya Yojana' that encourages girls' education. Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu, Union Minister of state Sudarshan Bhagat, Chatra MP Sunil Singh, Palamau MP VD Ram, Aurangabad MP Sushil Kumar Singh, Gaya MP Hari Manjhi, Gopal Narayan Singh MP Rajya Sabha, Cabinet Ministers of Jharkhand Ramchandra Chandravanshi, CP Singh, and MLAs Harekishan Singh and Alok Chourasia were present on the occasion.

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