Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that as many as 70.5 lakh families of farmers are being helped with the installation of solar pumps in Gujarat to facilitate better irrigation system which will result into additional income for them. While addressing the inauguration event for three key projects including ‘Kisan Suryodaya Yojana’ for the farmers in Gujarat, via video conferencing, Prime Minister said, “A total of 70.5 lakh farmer families are being helped in the installation of solar pumps. These will help the farmers in irrigation and will help them with additional income.” “Today, India is among the world’s leading countries in both production and utilization of solar power. In the last 6 years, the country has reached the fifth position in the world in terms of solar production and is continuously moving forward,” he added. Gujarat has done a great job in the field of irrigation and drinking water along with electricity, Prime Minister said. “We know the situation of water availability in Gujarat. Due to the efforts of the government in the last two decades, today water has reached even those villages where no one could have imagined before. Today, nearly 80 per cent of the households in Gujarat have access to tap water. Soon, Gujarat will be among those states which have provided water to every household through the pipe,” he said. To provide day-time power supply for irrigation to farmers, the Gujarat Government under Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had recently announced the Kisan Suryodaya Yojana. Under this scheme, farmers will be able to avail power supply from 5 AM to 9 PM. The state government has allocated a budget of Rs 3,500 crores for installing transmission infrastructure under this scheme by 2023. Prime Minister also list out various ongoing projects and schemes of the central government aimed at strengthening India’s agriculture sector. “From giving freedom to farmers to sell their produce anywhere, to forming 10,000 FPOs, to providing soil-health cards, to complete incomplete irrigation projects and more such initiatives, all of them are aimed at strengthening India’s agriculture sector. We all will have to increase our efforts to double the income of farmers,” he said. Prime Minister said that three projects– Kisan Suryodaya Yojana’ , Paediatric Heart Hospital attached with UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre and Mobile App for telecardiology at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, the Girnar ropeway are the symbol of strength, devotion and health of Gujarat.
