Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday announced that guidelines will be framed for enabling Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of benefits of government schemes, including assistance for sinking borewells, to bank accounts of farmers.
Addressing a gathering after performing bhoomi puja for the construction of a mega dairy for Haveri Milk Union at Arabagonda village in Haveri district, the Chief Minister said that the government will introduce a system to prevent the interference of middlemen between government and farmers and directly transfer assistance to bank accounts of farmers.
Mr. Bommai said that he is aware of the power crisis in the region and that he has been told that farmers are getting continuous power supply only for five hours. “I will issue an order to ensure uninterrupted power supply for seven hours from tomorrow,” he announced.
Compensation
On lumpy skin disease in cattle, he said that the government will release a compensation of ₹20,000 for the death of a cow and ₹30,000 for an ox.
Mr. Bommai said that the UHT (Ultra High Temperature Processing) Plant near Haveri will be ready by December when it will be formally inaugurated and commissioned. Additionally, ₹20 crore has been released for a facility for packing milk in pouches and it has been planned to market 1.5 lakh litres of milk in pouches.
He said that after getting de-linked from Dharwad Milk Union, the Haveri Milk Union has registered a profit of ₹2 crore and it is likely to increase further in the coming days.
“Today, foundation stone was laid for the ₹70 crore mega dairy project. Once completed, the milk union will have a capacity to produce up to 3 lakh litres of milk. Units for production of byproducts such as curd, butter and pedha will be established,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the proposal for establishing Ksheer Samruddhi Sahakari Bank, a cooperative bank of milk producers by milk producers, is in the final stages.
The Chief Minister listed out various proposals of the government, including industrial township, and said that irrigation projects in the district will be completed by year-end. A medical college and law school will start functioning soon, he said.
KMF president Balachandra Jarkiholi said that milk production in South Karnataka has increased significantly when compared to North Karnataka and appealed to women to take up dairy farming so that they can earn up to ₹10,000 per week by supplying 10 litres of milk every day.
Vidyanidhi scheme
Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil said that the Raita Vidyanidhi scheme has been extended to children of farm workers too. And, with increased reservation for farmers children from 40% to 50%, there will be an increase of 420 seats every year in farm universities of the State, he said.
District in-charge Minister Shivaram Hebbar, Member of Parliament Shivakumar Udasi, Members of Legislative Assembly Virupakshappa Ballari and Nehru Olekar and others were present.
On Thursday, Mr. Bommai also inaugurated the administrative office of the Haveri District Cooperative Milk Producer Society’s Union in Haveri.
