Rane exhorts Youth Congress activists to ensure party's victory

Wardha, Maharashtra, Dec 18 (UNI) Revenue Minister Narayan Rane today urged Youth Congress activists to ensure that the party forms a government on its own at the Centre and the state after the next elections.

Speaking at a convention of Youth Congress workers here yesterday, Mr Rane said that the target for the party was to win at least 150 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in the next elections.

''This will ensure absolute majority for the Congress in Maharashtra. A similar goal should be set for the Lok Sabha,'' he said. The youth workers of the party must resolve to work with dedication and honesty in this direction, he said.

Mr Rane criticised activists who crossed over to other parties if denied a ticket for an election by any political outfit.

Addressing the gathering, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Prabha Rau said that the Congress was not a means for activists to get their personal work done. The opportunity to work for the party must be used for the benefit of the public and to ensure that the fruits of development reach the common man, she said.

Earlier, Mr Rane felicitated ten young farmers from the district for their success in agriculture.

They were felicitated to project them as role models and to inspire other young farmers, Wardha District Youth Congress President Dr Sachin Bhoyar told UNI. ''We hope that the inspiration would help the farmers avoid financial crisis and thereby discourage them from committing suicides,'' he said, adding that this was an effort to find a way out of the agrarian crisis sweeping across Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

Among those felicitated were Ravindra Chaudhary and Shishir Raut, who are part of a group of 19 farmers that has successfully adopted zero-budget natural farming technique. The group will export to Germany next month 150 quintals of organic cotton cultivated exclusively using natural inputs, Mr Chaudhary and Mr Raut said.

They would get a price of Rs 3,300 per quintal, up from the rate of Rs 2,800 that they received for the same produce last year, the two farmers said.

As compared to conventional farming, natural farming needed more investment and more hard work, but the returns were very high, they added.

UNI