New Delhi, July 20: Chhattisgarh farmers will be able to earn Rs 12,000 annually, double the amount under the Centre's PM-Kisan scheme, by selling cow dung to the state government as part of ''Godhan Nyay Yojana” launched on Monday, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said.

Under the ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana', the state government will procure cow dung at Rs 2 per kilogram from livestock owners and use it to prepare vermicompost or organic fertilisers. The scheme was launched in Raipur on the occasion of local Hareli festival, celebrated to mark the start of agricultural activities, officials said. Coronavirus Pandemic: Make Strategy Before Lifting Lockdown, Says Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel to PM Narendra Modi.

“Those who are cow-rearers, what are they getting? If they have three to four cattle, they can easily make Rs 1,500 per month. So if under the PM-Kisan scheme, they are getting Rs 6,000 annually, then under our Godhan Nyay Yojana, they will get Rs 12,000. They will get more than the PM's Kisan scheme," he told PTI on phone from Raipur.

Under the central government's Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi or PM-Kisan scheme, that came into effect from December 1, 2018, eligible farmers get Rs 6,000 annually -- in three installments of Rs 2,000 every four months. Baghel said the scheme will generate employment for local people and farmers, besides ensuring wellbeing of cattle.

He hit out at the opposition BJP for allegedly indulging in politics by criticizing the scheme and said the saffron party's ideological fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has already praised the initiative.

“What is the problem if farmers' income is getting increased? What is the issue they (the BJP) have got? The RSS has come out in open to support the scheme. They (BJP leaders) should ask them, their frontal organisation, that we are opposing the scheme and you are respecting it. They will get the right answer,” Baghel said, countering the allegations leveled by the state BJP leadership over the scheme.

He said BJP leader and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh could never procure 80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in his 15 years of rule. “But soon after forming the government, we bought 80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in the first year of our rule and in the second year we bought 83 lakh metric tonnes from the farmers. Their (the BJP's) accusation is without any basis. They are saying (objecting to scheme) because they have to say something,” Baghel said on BJP leaders' charges on procurement of paddy.

Giving details of the scheme, the chief minister said it will be a win-win situation for the farmers and cattle-rearers. “The scheme will ensure that the cattle are properly fed by those who own them as they have to sell cow dung. The scheme will check free movement of cattle in agriculture field that damages the crop. Also, this will check cattle death (as they will be taken care of well),” he said.

Baghel said the scheme will lead to large scale production of vermincompost in ‘gauthans' (where cattle are housed), thus reducing the use of harmful chemicals in the agriculture fields.