No govt can ensure support price sought by farmers: Gadkari

No government can guarantee the support price as demanded by farmers, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said here today even as he proposed a competitive market price for agriculturists for their produce.

"No government can ensure the support price being demanded by farmers. But I am of the view that farmers should be debt-free and they should be given a competitive market price for their produce," he said after kicking off various development works concerning roads in Yavatmal and Washim districts in Vidarbha region.

The works include repairing the old national highway passing through the districts, construction of a new national highway and also a central road.
 

The works are estimated to cost Rs 3,523 crore, out of which Rs 2,873.15 crore has already been sanctioned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

On the occasion, Gadkari appealed to farmers to adopt global trends by altering their agriculture methods and changing their crop pattern. He also asked farmers to turn to ancillary occupations including the manufacturing of ethanol and bio-plastic to enhance their income.

"Diversification of agriculture for energy, petrol and plastic is the need of the hour and it alone would strengthen the rural economy which will ultimately ensure the goal of rural development," the Road Transport and Highways Minister said, adding that "nobody could be happy if farmers remain in debt and continue to commit suicide".

Vidarbha has seen the highest number of suicides by farmers in recent years, apparently owing to crop failure and indebtedness.

Gadkari said he would consider employing funds from profit earned by Shipping Corporation of India for construction of check dams which would eventually increase the ground water level in Vidarbha region.

"People have great expectations from the ruling government and it is natural. The government should rise to meet the aspirations of people and if they do not fulfill their demands, the opposition parties should fight for them," he said.

The Union Minister also paid homage to former state Industry minister and freedom fighter Jawaharlal Darda at 'Prerana Sthal' in Darda Nagar here.
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Once these initiatives are implemented, they will make women safer on roads, Gadkari said, adding that the need for the move was felt in the wake of the unfortunate Nirbhaya incident in December 2012.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said these moves will ensure safety of women.

Minister of Transport for Rajasthan Yoonus Khan said the Centre has contributed 50 per cent of the funds for the pilot project under which 10 luxury and 10 ordinary buses were launched today.

He said all buses in Rajasthan will soon be equipped with devices to ensure women's safety as 33 per cent of state transport bus passengers are females and about 10 per cent of those travelling in premium buses are alone.

Under Rajasthan government initiative known as 'Mahila Gaurav', the emergency button functionality can be used by passengers to alert the officials and as soon as the panic button is pressed, information of the buses and its location is sent to the designated phone number (presently, depot chief manager's mobile number) while video history of the bus can be used in case of any untoward incident.

Among those present at the pilot launch event was Chairperson, National Commission for Women, Lalitha Kumar Mangalam.