Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday called upon farmers across the state to unanimously oppose what he termed the “conspiracy” of the Union government in scrapping the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme and implementing the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act.
He was speaking at the International Trade Fair–2026, Post-Harvest Agriculture – Farmers’ Empowerment and the State-level Agricultural Scientists Award ceremony.
The Chief Minister said his government has always stood by the agriculture sector and is giving greater emphasis to making farming profitable and empowering farmers. He said agriculture can be made remunerative by encouraging farmers to engage in post-harvest activities.
“Farmers should become entrepreneurs. Along with cultivating crops, they should actively participate in storage, processing, packaging, marketing and the development of by-products. More women must participate in agriculture. The achievements of women farmers who have been honoured today are truly inspirational,” he said.
CM Siddaramaiah said the government is providing quality seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to farmers and has extended subsidies of Rs 1,500 crore for the purchase of agricultural machinery. Karnataka has emerged as the number one state in the country in implementing the crop insurance scheme, with Rs 6,000 crore distributed so far as insurance compensation to farmers.
He said farmers are largely restricted to crops such as sugarcane and ragi and stressed the need for greater involvement in post-harvest activities. “After discussions and negotiations with sugarcane farmers, prices were fixed. Similarly, procurement centres for tur dal were opened a month in advance for the benefit of farmers,” he said.
Referring to maize production, the Chief Minister said excess yield could result in a production of 54 lakh metric tonnes. The Centre has fixed the price at Rs 2,400 per quintal, and discussions were held with maize-based industries and ethanol manufacturers to facilitate the procurement of 40 lakh metric tonnes, he added.
CM Siddaramaiah urged youth to take up agriculture in larger numbers. “Before Independence, nearly 80 per cent of the population depended on agriculture. This has now come down to 62 per cent. Agriculture becomes profitable only when post-harvest activities are undertaken,” he said.
He said India has achieved self-reliance in food production and that many promises made in the Congress manifesto have been fulfilled. Among them, the revival of the Krushi Bhagya scheme was significant. “The BJP had stalled this scheme during its tenure. Our government has revived it and allocated nearly Rs 200 crore for its implementation,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the guarantee schemes implemented by the state government — Shakti, Gruha Jyothi and Gruha Lakshmi — are particularly important for women. He added that under the Anna Bhagya scheme, the poor are able to save and invest. “These pro-people schemes have been implemented with the objective of providing equal opportunities to all,” he said.
Siddaramaiah said the MGNREGA scheme was introduced during the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and had provided employment to women, tribals and labourers, with projects being decided in gram sabhas.
“Now, these powers have been taken over by the Centre, which decides the nature of works and funding. I appeal to all farmers in the state to demand the restoration of MGNREGA and reject the VB-G RAM G scheme,” he said.
He pointed out that earlier, the Centre bore the full cost of wages under MGNREGA, but now provides only 60 per cent of the funds, forcing states to bear the remaining 40 per cent. “Earlier, 100 days of work were guaranteed. Without the consent of state governments, MGNREGA has been scrapped and the VB-G RAM G scheme has been implemented, removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from it,” the Chief Minister stated.
(IANS)
