Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday held his second Cabinet meeting in Lucknow where a range of issues were discussed and several important decisions, especially pertaining to farmers, were taken.
The meeting was held days after Adityanath's government approved the farm loan waiver scheme, which will benefit around 2.15 crore small and marginalised farmers in the state. The state government had also decided to procure almost the entire wheat produce of farmers at the minimum support price (MSP) this season.
Here are the important decisions taken at the Cabinet meeting:
- The potato produce of farmers would be bought at Rs 487 per quintal and that the potato procurement would begin immediately. The state government will purchase one lakh metric tonnes of potato from the farmers.
- The government has also instructed sugar mills to pay the old dues of the sugarcane farmers within four months. The current dues must be paid within two weeks failing which the government will take action against the mill owners.
- The government would also sign an electricity deal with the Centre on April 14 in an attempt to provide electricity to all citizens in the state. The Cabinet has decided that the electricity department will have to replace non-working transformers within 48 hours instead of the previous deadline of 72 hours. Transformers must be replaced within 24 hours in urban areas.
- UP minister Srikant Sharma told reporters that 18 hours of electricity would be provided in rural areas while tehsils would get 20 hours and all cities would get 24 hours of electricity. It was also decided that farmers, who owe electricity bills over Rs 10,000 to the power department, can pay in four installments. The state government has decided to waive surcharge of electricity dues.
- Reports said that the Cabinet has approved a proposal for the allotment of Rs 4,000 crore to make around 18,000 km of state roads pothole-free. After coming to power, Adityanath had instructed the PWD department to make all roads in the state pothole-free by June 15, 2017.
Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and the UP government have set a deadline of September 25, 2018 to make sure that every house in the state receives 24×7 supply of electricity.
