PM keeps all alert: Union minister for urban development M Venkaiah Naidu
He praised Narendra Modi’s dedicated work ethics
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-11-17 06:22 GMT
Hyderabad: Union minister for urban development M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dedicated work ethics, saying neither does he sleep nor does he allow others to sleep.
Mr Naidu also pitched for removal of transport restrictions on agricultural produce and incr-ease in agri-research funding. The minister was speaking at the M.S. Swaminathan award function held by the ICAR Retired Employees Association.
He is scheduled to leave for Barcelona in the evening to study the city infrastructure and impart concepts to proposed smart cities. Asked about his packed schedule, he remarked, “Our Prime Minister does not sleep and does not allow others to sleep. But we are enjoying it. Because working for the people and the betterment of life of the common man is the most enjoyable thing.”
Mr Naidu also sought the removal of restrictions on movement of farm produce while saying the agricultural sector has been neglected when compared to the manufacturing sector.
“The farm sector has been neglected compared to manufacturing and others. Food security concerns forced inconsistent policies like allowing export of food grains sometimes and banning the same at other times.
Unified market for farm produce is still a far cry. It is ironical that our farmers do not have the right of moving their produce to the needy markets. It is time that we remove such restrictions on farmers,” Mr Naidu said.
He said he agreed with the M.S. Swaminathan headed National Commission on Agriculture recommendation to fix procurement prices to be 50 per cent higher than that of the total cost of production. Stressing on the need to take agricultural growth to the four per cent mark, he said that funding for agri-research also needs to be increased.
“Ironically, we spend only about 0.5 per cent of our farm GDP on farm research, while Brazil spends over 1 per cent of farm GDP on it. Private sector share in capital formation in agriculture has been increasing but the share of public investment has shown a substantial declining trend,” the minister said.
He added that the Jan Dhan Yojana had helped create nearly six crore new bank accounts within just seven weeks of its launch.