Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that agriculture has a major role to contribute in Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and self-reliance in Agriculture targets at making Farmers producer as well as entrepreneurs.

Speaking after inaugurating the College and Administration Buildings of the Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi through video conference today, Mr Modi said, self-sufficiency in agriculture is not limited to food only, rather it is about self-sufficiency of the entire economy of the village. He said, in line with this spirit, several historic agricultural reforms were taken.

Mr Modi said, just like other industries, now farmers can also sell their produce anywhere in the country, wherever they fetch better prices. He said, a special dedicated fund of one lakh crore rupees has been set up for providing better facilities and promoting industries in a cluster based approach.

Saying that steady efforts are continuing to connect farming with modern technology, the Prime Minister noted that Research Institutions and Agricultural Universities have a vital role to play. He said, now there are three Central Agricultural Universities in the country compared to just one Central University six years ago. He said, three more National Institutions, IARI, Jharkhand, IARI, Assam and Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Integrated Farming in Motihari, Bihar are also being established.

Mr Modi said, that these institutes will not only give new opportunities to the students, but will also help in increasing their capacity, in providing technology benefits to the local farmers.

Dwelling upon the use of modern technology in meeting agriculture related challenges, the Prime Minister gave an example of recent locust attack. He said the Government worked on war footing to control the spread of the attacks and to reduce the damage. He mentioned that dozens of control rooms were set up in several cities, arrangements were made to farmers in advance, drones to spray, dozens of modern spray machines used to kill locusts were procured and provided to farmers.

Mr Modi said, in the last six years, the government has endeavoured to establish a link between research and farming and to provide scientific advice to the farmers, at the ground levels in the villages. He sought the cooperation of the universities in developing the ecosystem to streamline the flow of knowledge and expertise from campus to agriculture fields.

Stressing on the need to take knowledge related to agriculture and its practical application to school level, the Prime Minister said efforts are to introduce the Agriculture subject at Middle school level in villages. He said, it will have two benefits- one, it will develop agriculture related understanding in the students and secondly, it will enable the students to give information about agriculture, its modern farming techniques and marketing, to their family members. He said, it will promote agro-entrepreneurship in the country.

Talking about the steps taken to minimize the problems faced by the people during the Coronavirus pandemic, Mr Modi said, free rations are being provided to crores of poor and rural families in Uttar Pradesh. Around 10 lakh poor women in Bundelkhand have been given free gas cylinders during this period. Under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan, over seven hundred crore rupees have been spent in Uttar Pradesh so far, under which employment was provided to lakhs of workers.

The Prime Minister said, as promised earlier, the campaign to provide drinking water to every house is being executed at a rapid pace. He said, around 500 water related projects worth more than 10 thousand crore rupees have been approved for the region. Out of this, work on Projects worth 3,000 crore rupees has commenced  in the last two months. He said, it will directly benefit lakhs of families in Bundelkhand.

The Prime Minister said, work is in progress on Atal Groundwater Scheme to raise the level of groundwater in Bundelkhand. He said, work on projects involving more than 700 crore rupees is underway to increase the water level in hundreds of villages of Jhansi, Mahoba, Banda, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot and Lalitpur as well as Western Uttar Pradesh.

The Prime Minister said, in spite of Bundelkhand surrounded by Rivers Betwa, Ken and Yamuna, the entire area does not get the full benefit of the rivers. He said, the Government is making steady efforts to change this situation.

Mr Modi noted that Ken-Betwa River Link Project has the potential to change the fate of the region and said the government is cooperating and working with the state governments in this direction. He expressed confidence that once Bundelkhand gets enough water, life in the region will change completely. He said that projects worth thousands of crores like Bundelkhand Express Way, Defence Corridor will create thousands of new employment opportunities here. He said, the Mantra of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan and Jai Vigyan will be echoed in all four directions in Bundelkhand. The Prime Minister reiterated the commitment of the Centre and Uttar Pradesh Government to enrich the ancient identity of Bundelkhand.

After inauguration, the Prime Minister interacted with students of the university and urged the people of Jhansi and Bundelkhand to make Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan a success.