Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today rejected the charges made by the BJP over the MDA government’s FOCUS farmer’s scheme.
The BJP, which is part and parcel of the MDA government yet still willing to complain about it in public, said that FOCUS and FOCUS+, which together can give agriculture producer households Rs 10,000, was only introduced to win votes.
The CM said that the farmers who benefit from the twin schemes need help and the government is extending support which should have been done under past administrations.
“If you talk to them (the farmers) you hear their testimony and they will say how this money is benefiting them to be able to raise their livelihoods and grow small businesses and it is making a huge impact at the grassroot level,” Sangma said.
He added that if it really was only done with an eye on next year’s state election, then the government would have introduced it this year but, in fact, it had done so last year.
The BJP had also claimed that a whopping Rs 1,500 crore was being spent on the two schemes but Sangma said that the real figure is Rs 400 crore.
“When we reach four and half lakh families, that’s when the impact will be Rs 450 crore,” he added.
On how Meghalaya has been able to afford these amounts, the CM said that there are different sources, such as taxes, loans or through external aid. “There are different sources that come in and the government then accordingly budgets and allocates funds, so making allegations that we took Rs 1,500 crore and paid for this is wrong.”
