PM gives slogan: "Swasth Dharaa. Khet
Haraa." - Healthy Earth. Green Farm.
Suratgarh(Rajasthan)The
Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today called for focusing attention on the
health of soil in agricultural areas across the country, to boost productivity
and bring about increased prosperity.
He was speaking after launching the Union Government's nationwide 'Soil Health
Card' Scheme from Suratgarh, Rajasthan. He described agriculture as the key to
poverty eradication.
Referring to the song "Vande Mataram," he said that in order to
achieve land that is truly "Sujalam, Suphalam," it is necessary to
nurture the soil. He said the soil health card scheme is a step towards
fulfilling this dream.
The Prime Minister said schemes such as the soil health card scheme, and the
recently launched Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme were relevant across the
country. Therefore he had recently launched the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme
in Haryana, and was now launching this scheme in Rajasthan. He said it was
essential to save both "Beti" and "Dharti Ma."
The Prime Minister also spoke of the importance of water. He said that it was
essential to use water judiciously and not waste even a drop. He said excess and
scarcity of water were both dangerous, and therefore, the key to good
agriculture was drops of water - "boond-boond paani." Prime Minister
said he had asked each state to come up with agriculture plans under the aegis
of the NITI Aayog.
14 crore Soil Health Cards are envisaged to be issued over the next 3 years. 
The Prime Minister presented the Krishi Karman Awards to State Government
functionaries led by Chief Ministers of States and progressive farmers, to the
states of Punjab, Odisha, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Tamil
Nadu, West Bengal and Gujarat. He presented Commendation Awards to State
Government functionaries led by Agriculture Ministers of States to Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Karnataka.
Governor of Rajasthan Shri Kalyan Singh, Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt
Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister of Punjab Shri Prakash Singh Badal, and Union
Minister for Agriculture Shri Radha Mohan Singh were present on the occasion.