‘Govt committed to doubling farmers’ income by 2022’

KARNAL: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the hike in the MSP of kharif crops and said the decision would help reduce farmers’ distress.

The chief minister was interacting with the people during the ‘connect to people’ programme in Thol grain market of Kurukshetra district.

He said the government was committed to doubling the farmers’ income by 2022 and the hike in the MSPS was a positive step in this direction.

Khattar also said that out of 5,200 announcements made by him, 3,500 have already been implemented and the remaining will be implemented soon.

“About 70% population of the state is dependent on agriculture and the state could be made prosperous if the farmers will be made prosperous,” he added. He said the hike in the MSPS will benefit the state farmers to the tune of Rs 1,400 crore annually.

The CM said about 2 lakh youths of the state need jobs but it is not possible to provide government jobs to all of them. “Therefore, there is need to make agriculture profitable.”

In Kaithal, Khattar said holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections in all states seems impossible in 2019 but it could be made reality in 2024.

He announced that the state government was considering to reduce the power tariff of domestic consumers. He said the state government has fixed a target of providing power for 18 to 24 hours in rural areas . He said recruitment to 38,000 Group-d posts would soon be started. The Punjab and Haryana high court has lifted stay on recruitment of TGT Science posts which will accelerate the recruitment, he added.