Page 155 - SocialHarmony

Happy Villages can Make the Nation Prosperous 159

and face loss of limb or life, the family’s tears dry up after some
time, but we must find a way out of such situations. That is
why the State Government has provided insurance for all the
farmers at its own expense.

The State Government has provided every farmer with a
‘Khedut Pothi’ (farmer book) and a Farmer’s Credit Card. We
had arranged a farmers’ welfare fair at Banaskantha and
embarked on the mission of reaching our targets for Farmer’s
Credit Card, so that no farmer will have to mortgage his wife,
daughter or sister’s jewellery to raise money and also to rescue
farmers from the exploitative clutches of local moneylenders.
Exploitation will also stop because the government has arranged
for farmers to get money directly from banks. When farmers
do not have space to store their crops, they are compelled to
sell at low prices. At such times, a floor price is essential to ensure
that they do not make a loss. For the first time, the Gujarat
Government has bought corn, millets and groundnut crops from
farmers at a pre-determined floor price so that they are saved
from debt and suicidal situations.

The entire nation will be happy only if villages are happy,
not otherwise. In order to bring happiness to villages, our efforts
have been directed towards developing infrastructure through
the Gokulgram Yojna and maintaining unity through the
Samragram Yojna so that villagers can live peacefully and solve
their problems on their own. It is our vision that in the days to
come, every village would still be a village, but it would have
fresh air, water and milk, its population would be under control
and people would be living with feelings of brotherhood. This
would empower them to face the world. If the son of a farmer
in Banaskantha is studying or working in America, he should
be able to check the 7-12 statement of his village land on his
computer, while sitting in America. We want this level of
development for our villages – we want a revolution. Villages
should have the best of what the world has to offer – this will
lead to development and stop the fragmentation of villages.
Therefore, the State Government has drawn up phasewise plans
to create modern infrastructure and lifestyle and an