The popular Krishi Bhagya Scheme, for making farm ponds for harvesting rainwater, may come back in some areas of the State. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday assured the Legislative Assembly of considering the suggestion for re-introduction of the scheme.
He made the assurance while intervening during the reply of Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil to debate on demand for grants in his department.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah took exception to the BJP Government stopping the flagship programme Krishi Bhagya taken up by the erstwhile Congress Government though the scheme was hailed by agricultural scientists as one that could change the farm dynamics of parched areas.
Responding to this, Mr. Patil said the scheme had been discontinued and instead provision had been made to build farm ponds under MNREGA.
However, Mr. Siddaramaiah and former Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda observed that building mere farm ponds cannot be equated with Krishi Bhagya scheme that looked at farm ponds from a wholistic angle of harvesting rainwater to take care of summer requirements.
Endorsing their views, Mr. Bommai said the Government would consider the suggestion of reintroducing the scheme in areas where the coverage was poor, he said.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister said the Government wanted to provide millet-based food to school children under the mid-day meal scheme once a month with the co-operation of KMF. A sum of ₹10 crore had been earmarked for this, he noted.
