Congress Government Committing Injustice Against Farmers and Gardeners: Chetan Bragta

Shimla, The Congress government of the state has committed injustice against farmers and gardeners by discontinuing the subsidy for solar fencing, said state spokesperson Chetan Singh Bragta. He stated that the previous BJP government had launched a solar fencing scheme through the Agriculture Department to protect the fruits and crops of farmers. Under this scheme, farmers and gardeners were receiving a 70% subsidy for installing solar fencing up to 1500 running feet around their fields. This initiative was highly beneficial for small and medium-sized farmers and gardeners.

Bragta said that the solar fencing helped protect crops from damage caused by wild animals, but the Congress government’s decision to end the scheme was incomprehensible, especially since it had been beneficial for the farmers. He criticized the Congress government for repeatedly taking anti-farmer and anti-gardener decisions, leading to disillusionment among the farming community. He also mentioned that the previous BJP government had introduced the Anti-Hail Net under the Chief Minister’s Agricultural Protection Scheme to protect crops from hailstorms, which the Congress government had also discontinued upon taking office.

The Anti-Hail Net scheme provided an 80% subsidy to farmers for installing nets over 5000 square meters. The BJP government had allocated a budget of 10 crores for this initiative in the financial year 2021-22, but the current government canceled the scheme and rejected thousands of applications from farmers. Bragta urged the state Agriculture and Horticulture ministers to intervene and prevent further injustice to the farming community. If not, he warned, the farmers would be forced to unite and launch an aggressive movement against the Congress government for their rights.