JOIN USAmit Shah promises sops for silk farmers, toymakers
The BJP will establish a state-of-the-art silk hub in Mandya if it is voted to power in the May 12 election, the party's president Amit Shah announced here in an effort to woo farmers.
"We will include this in our manifesto. If we come to power, the world's best state-of-the-art silk hub will be established in Mandya. We will also take steps to increase the silkworm subsidy from Rs 75,000 to Rs 3 lakh," Shah said while addressing silk farmers and representatives from the silk industry.
"I'm happy to be in Reshme Nadu (Silk City) of Ramanagaram," Shah said.
The BJP chief also promised to set up a statewide marketing chain to promote handicrafts produced in the toy city of Channapatna, 60 km from Bengaluru. Shah visited the Channapatna Crafts Park, touted as India's first crafts park that houses a cluster of over 3,000 traditional artisans who produce lacquerware.
The silk industry provides employment to 10 lakh people, Shah said, calling it "the pride of Karnataka and India." He hailed the famous Mysore silk and mentioned how Sir M Visvesvaraya worked towards getting it global recognition. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi understands the importance of silk. That's why, in the Union Budget, duty on silk imports has been increased to help Karnataka's farmers," Shah said.
The Centre has set a silk production target of 38,000 tonnes by 2019-20 at a cost of Rs 2,161 crore. The Karnataka State Textile Infrastructure Development Corporation has been appointed as the nodal agency to set up silk clusters. "But under the Siddaramaiah government, work is moving at a snail's pace," Shah said.
He continued his attack on the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, branding it as "anti-farmer" by raking up the suicide of over 3,500 farmers in the state. Over the past week, Shah said he interacted with arecanut, coconut and coffee farmers. "Ever since Siddaramaiah government came to power, all farmers, including wheat and paddy growers, are depressed," Shah said. "I'm confident, the same farmer who is sad and depressed will pave the way for a prosperous Karnataka and Raitha mitra (farmer's friend) B S Yeddyurappa will be elected the next chief minister."