Hike Sugarcane Prices, Double PM KISAN Funds: BJP MP Varun Gandhi Writes To UP CM Yogi Adityanath

Listing out the problems and demands of the farmers, the Pilibhit Member of Parliament in his letter suggested solutions for the same.

BJP MP Varun Gandhi (File Pic)

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi, who had earlier voiced for re-engaging with the protesting farmers, on Sunday wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and sought various relief measures for the farming community in the state.

Listing out the problems and demands of the farmers, the Pilibhit Member of Parliament in his letter suggested solutions for the same.

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“Indicating the basic problems of the farmers, my letter to the honorable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath ji, I hope that the words of the sons of the land will definitely be heard,” he tweeted in Hindi and posted the letter written to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

Gandhi demanded substantial rise in sugarcane prices, bonus on wheat and paddy, doubling the amount of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme and subsidy on diesel.

He suggested increasing the sugarcane selling price to Rs 400 per quintal, which is currently fixed at Rs 315 per quintal in Uttar Pradesh.

Stating that the farmers should be given additional bonus of Rs 200 per quintal above the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat and paddy, Gandhi also demanded that the PM KISAN scheme should be doubled to Rs 12,000 per annum for the farmers with the state government contributing Rs 6,000 from its own funds, PTI reported.

The Pilibhit MP requested Adityanath to give subsidy of Rs 20 per litre on diesel to the farmers and reduce the power prices with immediate effect while sharing the farmers’ concerns of high prices of electricity and diesel.

The letter to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister comes days after Gandhi had said the government should re-engage with the farmers to reach common ground as they are “our own flesh and blood”.

He put forth his views on Twitter when earlier on September 5 a large number of farmers gathered in Muzaffarnagar for a mahapanchayt organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha against the three farm laws.

“Lakhs of farmers have gathered in protest today in Muzaffarnagar. They are our own flesh and blood. We need to start re-engaging with them in a respectful manner: understand their pain, their point of view and work with them in reaching common ground,” he tweeted and posted a video of the large crowd in attendance.

The farmers mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been since November last year demanding that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

Several rounds of talks between the farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock.