SP govt plans interest-free loans for farmers to buy livestock

Reaching out to the Samajwadi Party's traditional voters, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said that the government will soon start a scheme to provide interest-free loans to farmers for buying livestock of improved breed.

The chief minister made the announcement after laying the foundation stone of a dairy plant with the capacity to process 5 lakh litre milk per day, on the Lucknow-Sultanpur road in Mohanlalganj area of Lucknow. Akhilesh said his government will also pay the dues of milk cooperative societies amounting to Rs 55 crore.

Akhilesh said the officers should work hard to complete the project before Lok Sabha elections so that it can be showcased as a place where farmers can sell milk. If the government delivers to the farmers, they will make the SP succeed in 2014, he added.

Agriculture Production Commissioner Alok Ranjan said the dairy plant will be developed as an integrated project for milk processing and animal husbandry. He said the plant will receive milk for processing from 11 nearby districts and produce items like packed milk, ghee, butter, curd and ice-cream. It will also serve as a training centre for farmers who will be informed about new techniques of artificial insemination for breed improvement and fodder management to help them increase their milk production, said Ranjan.

Stressing that his government was delivering on its promises, the CM said the commissioning of the dairy plant was promised in the SP election manifesto. He said the distribution of unemployment allowance will start from September 9 and girl students from poor families will be given financial help under Kanya Vidya Dhan scheme. He added that the government was also working to generate employment in the state.

Before Akhilesh's address, SP MLA from Mohanlalganj Chandra Rawat asked the chief minister to look into the erratic supply of electricity in her constituency. The CM said that the problem of electricity was created by the BSP government which "destroyed" the power department, and his government was trying to improve the situation. He said that not only was power generation decreased in the BSP regime, but also power transformers and electric wires of poor quality were bought, which aggravated the power crisis.

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