In a stern warning, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan on Tuesday said he would ensure no government in Uttar Pradesh dares to implement the C Rangarajan formula of revenue sharing, as it is against the interest of farmers. Balyan was speaking at a seminar on 'Liberating Farmers from the Debt Trap' organised by the Centre for Agricultural Policy Dialogue. He said essential commodities should be kept out of the purview of the futures market, and the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), currently under the commerce minister, should be brought under the ministry of agriculture. Under the Rangarajan formula, framed by former chairman of Prime Minister's economic advisory council C Rangarajan in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, sugar mills are required to pay farmers a price of their cane which is equivalent to 70 per cent of the then prevailing retail price of sugar. Many states, including Uttar Pradesh have not implemented the recommendations of the report Meanwhile, speaking at the same seminar, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the government was planning to bring 20 million hectares under irrigation through various schemes including the Rs 80,000-crore Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP). Terming severe water crisis in 11 states as the main cause for farmers' plight, the road transport, highways and shipping minister said irrigation schemes were being fast-tracked to provide relief to the agrarian community. Beside AIBP for 89 projects, a provision of Rs 20,000 crore has been made under the Pradhan Mantri Sinchayee Yojana. Maharashtra's 28 projects are included in AIBP. He said the Centre was committed to addressing their problems and bring more cultivable areas under irrigation. The minister said drip irrigation was also the need of the hour, as dependence on rains was not the solution.
He said Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Odisha are facing water crisis. A website on India's rural sector called aslibharat.com was also launched during the occasion.