GUWAHATI, March 2 - The farmers� wing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set its sight on forming �pathar parisalana samitis� (or field management committees) at the panchayat level all across the State.
President of the Kisan Morcha of BJP Assam State unit Pran Kumar Das told The Assam Tribune that each pathar parisalana samiti will be led by 10-12 model farmers.
�Our intention is to play a role in further strengthening the BJP�s base in the State. We, as members of the Kisan Morcha, have a role to play in not only taking the party to the farmers, but also in ensuring that people engaged in agriculture and allied activities are able to get the maximum benefit from the various schemes announced in recent years by our governments in both New Delhi and Dispur,� Das said.
He said the field management committees would be formed within the next three months.
�Today we have committees at the district and mandal levels. Now, we are expanding to the panchayat and village level,� Das said. He said the state executive of the Kisan Morcha took a number of resolutions at its recent meeting held at Patharughat.
�Many a time, social welfare schemes initiated for the farmers and rural population do not reach the intended beneficiaries. We have now decided to play a proactive role to ensure that the targeted beneficiaries are not deprived due to interference by middlemen,� said the BJP leader.
The Kisan Morcha has formed 18 departments to work on various fields related to agriculture and the farm sector, including training, skill development, promotion of sectors like horticulture and sericulture, and to increase procurement by government agencies from farmers of Assam.
�As part of it, we have decided to introduce a scheme under which 100 youths will be provided skill development training from each district every month. All the district presidents of the Morcha have also been directed to work on means to engage farmers and residents of rural areas for setting up agri-tourism projects,� said Das.
He said the BJP Kisan Morcha has over 24,000 �active� members in Assam, but the numbers are expected to rise to over one lakh once the expansion to the panchayat level is completed.
�Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target to double farmers� income by 2022. We want to play a role in achieving the target in Assam,� said the senior BJP leader.
