Aiming to make Chhattisgarh millets hub, Baghel announces remunerative price of Rs 3,000 per quintal

Stating that Chhattisgarh will be the millet hub of the country, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Saturday here that Chhattisgarh is the first state in India that has declared Rs 3,000 per quintal remunerative price on millets.

Addressing the reporters, the CM said, "The government is providing Rs 9,000 per acre input cost for sowing millets crops in the state. Considering the fact there is a huge demand for millets not only in India but also in international markets, the government has decided to make the state as millet hub of the country."

Baghel further added that as we give a remunerative price for paddy, in a similar fashion the state has decided to provide support pricing to millet. "The government will provide support in harvesting, milling and marketing of the produce," he added.

He said, "In Chhattisgarh, almost 44 per cent of the land is in the forest area. Due to this, irrigation of paddy is difficult and paddy requires a huge amount of water, whereas millets require less water."

Counting the benefits of millets, the CM said, "Millets has several ingredients such as magnesium, potassium, iron, calcium and zinc that are beneficial for health. There is also 12 per cent protein in millets. Millets are very important to overcome malnutrition," adding that in Kanker district, millets are cultivated in 5,000 hectares this year compared to 4,000 hectares last year.

He also thanked the director of Indian Institute Millets Research for cooperation in sowing and cultivating the crop in the state.

He also attacked former chief minister Raman Singh, who took a dig over Rahul Gandhi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir. Baghel said, "As the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, Raman Singh has not done anything other than distributing rice. In order to increase to income of farmers, the Congress government has give Rs 2,500 per quintal and then later gave Rs 9,000 input cost subsidy. Moreover, the government is also giving Rs 6,000 to the landless people. By implementing this scheme, the data shows that farming has become a profit-making venture. Raman Singh was the chief minister of the state for 15 years, he did not do anything for the development of Chhattisgarh."

Saying that most religious conversions happened during the BJP regime, Bhupel said, "BJP doesn't have issues like farmers' issues, cows or tribals anymore. They are left only with issues of religious conversion. I had said that the highest number of churches was constructed during the tenure of the BJP govt. It means that most of the religious conversions were done during their tenure. I am still saying that we will definitely take action if we receive a complaint of forced religious conversion."

( With inputs from ANI )