In October 2013, Real Star Upendra launched his political party – Karnataka Pragnyavanta Janata Paksha – and had promised to release drafts of the manifestos to the public to gather opinion. On Friday, Upendra released the first draft of his Smart Village manifesto, where the actor lays out policies for rural development.
Titled “From Rajakeeya Government to Prajakeeya Government,” the manifesto claims to bring back “Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a super village.”
The manifesto, which focuses on cooperative farming, states that Rs 2 crore will be allotted to every village in the annual budget for carrying out developmental works.
“The funds of nearly Rs 60,000 crore allocated to 29,736 villages from various departments will be pooled collectively and handed over to the gram panchayats,” the manifesto reads.
It suggests inclusion of citizens’ feedback while formulating blueprints for development of road, drains, houses, toilets, lakes, streetlights, schools, hospitals and water facilities.
In a first, the manifesto suggests video recording of the meetings of gram panchayat and village residents while formulating the said blueprint.
It suggests the formation of cooperative societies, where farmers owning land less than 10 acres will pool in resources for better yield and price.
“This will aid farming to be done collectively towards minimizing the expenditure and maximizing the productivity. The farm produce marketed through the cooperative platform will have good bargaining power, leading to fair value for the cultivated crops,” it adds.
The manifesto states that the cooperative societies will also be formed for animal husbandry, poultry farming, sericulture and fisheries.
“The allocated funds for each village panchayat will be used for Co-operative society by providing machinery needs for agriculture (tractor, sprinklers, drip irrigation, seeds and fertilizers), technology (weather report, market demand, crop pattern, soil testing), supporting sericulture, supporting animal husbandry, fisheries, encouraging horticulture, support for water and power management,” it adds.
It suggests setting up of cottage industries using far products to generate employment, assures provision of crop insurance, setting up of small and large scale retail centres to supply farm products.