Barwani, March 2 Madhya Pradesh Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Umang Singhar said on Monday that farmers in the Nimar region were looking for new schemes from the BJP government.
"However, the meeting seems more like a publicity and image-building exercise than a genuine effort to help farmers," he said.
Congress leader Singhar, who also belongs to the Tribal community from the Dhar district of the Nimar region, said, "The cabinet meeting attempted to gloss over the situation by approving an irrigation project in Varla and Pansemal.
Noting that the main crops in the Barwani district are cotton, soybeans, maize, and bananas and papayas, he said, "If industries related to these were established, tribal farmers would have benefited significantly. Today, the cotton industry in the district has essentially disappeared."
He said that the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) claims to purchase cotton from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP); in reality, it only started purchasing at MSP after small and medium-sized farmers had sold their produce to traders.
Singhar claimed that the Sendhwa block, once known as the "Cotton Bowl," has lost trade to Maharashtra and Gujarat due to high taxes and other factors.
Singhar stated that, despite having three industrial parks and being connected to the national highway, labour migration from Barwani and other neighbouring districts has increased year after year due to the lack of industrial infrastructure.
"Every day, more than 200 pickup trucks and buses depart for Gujarat and Maharashtra, where wages are higher than in Madhya Pradesh," he added.
He also mentioned that the Barwani district ranks fifth in the NITI Aayog's Multidimensional Poverty Index, and that 60,000 children in the district are underweight, with 23 per cent to 55 per cent being malnourished.
Singhar said he expected the Chief Minister to present concrete plans to develop farmers and double their incomes. Instead, he called the "Agriculture Cabinet" meeting a mere show and PR stunt, similar to the Chief Minister’s foreign tours.