PMGSY-III is our priority; Agri-start-ups will be encouraged: Narendra Singh Tomar

Road building is our primary priority in the rural development section, says Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Rural Development. In an interview with Swati Khandelwal, Tomar said, "My party is a firm believer of the fact that rural areas should be developed to take the country ahead and it can be attained by providing basic facilities in the areas".

Rural development is a big challenge for your ministry, and several schemes have been launched for the purpose. What is your outlook on those schemes and let us know about government plans that will be launched in the future?

We were supposed to develop 50,000-km roads under the second phase of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and construction for 41,000-km roads has been approved by us of which around 29,000-km roads have been developed and the villages are almost connected. We will try to connect tehsil office, hospital, high and middle schools and universities to these villages. This is why the third phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was announced in this year's Budget, under which we will be developing around 1.25 lakh kilometre of roads till 2024 at an investment of around Rs 80,000 crore. The government is prepared for this and the work will be done.

The ongoing slowdown in the economy and stress in demand and consumption has created pressure on the rural market. How you are seeing it?

Crores of rupees are being invested in rural areas under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, which will benefit the villagers by providing an opportunity to work. Now, I would like to talk about Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana under which 1.53 crore have been developed and each house – whose development need bricks, rods, labours, gates and windows as well as toilet and gas - have been developed at a minimum investment of Rs 1.5 lakh. Under this scheme, our government in its last tenure invested around Rs 81,000 crore in rural India, which has benefited the villagers as well as the market.

The government has set a target of doubling the farmers' income by 2022. Do you think that you will be able to meet the target within the deadline?

The government is focused on the aspect. Through this scheme, the Prime Minister has provided a target and everyone, the central government, state government and the farmers, are doing their best to achieve the target. Besides, the Union government has constituted a committee to look into the matter and the committee has submitted its report along with recommendations to the government and we are working on the recommendations through our schemes. Prime Minister Modi has implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan Report and 50% more support price is being provided in the country for the past two years. Post-independence Rs 86,000-87,000 crore has been farming Budget till date, but a single step has taken away Rs 87,000 crore from the Union government's Budget, which will be credited in the accounts of every farmer of the country. This amount will increase his earnings by 15-20%.

How will you encourage agri-start-ups as there were talks of around 70 deals worth $130 million for it?

Value addition to agri-based products is important to make agriculture profitable. This will also reduce unemployment in rural regions. Our food processing industry is working on this. We are trying to assist and encourage the agri-start-ups and I believe that the entire country connects when PM Modi undertakes any mission. The government is working to help the new people entering the industry.

What are your top three priorities?

Our primary focus in the case of the rural development segment is to start work on the third phase of the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana (PMGSY-III) and provide high-quality roads to people. The doubling of the farmers' income is our priority in the agricultural section and for the purpose, a full-fledged work will be started on the government's roadmap after the Lok Sabha season comes to an end. In the process, we will have talks with the state governments. We will also initiate awareness programmes. The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi aims to reach around 10 crore people and the PM Kisan Pension aims to enlist five crore people.

― Zee Media Newsroom