Women Farmers' Day: Sanchi Gets 46 Rural Roads Under PMGSY

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, spent 16 October 2026 at Sanchi in his parliamentary constituency in Madhya Pradesh. He joined a programme held for Women Farmers' Day and performed the bhoomi pujan of 46 rural roads sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

Formal identity for women farmers

The Minister said a farmer should be recognised by the work she puts into farming, not merely by who owns the land. Women work in the fields and also rear animals, milk cattle, cut fodder and look after livestock, yet they are rarely counted as farmers in any formal sense. He said he would press the matter on the forums concerned so that women who till the soil get that recognition. Growing grain, fruit, vegetables and medicinal plants, animal husbandry, fisheries and poultry are all part of farming, he added, and women carry a large share of this work.

Pilot in Raisen and Vidisha

A pilot project is being started in the districts of Raisen and Vidisha with the aim of linking every family in every village to at least one source of livelihood, so that villages become free of poverty. The Minister said relief alone does not end poverty; steady earnings do. Farming, value addition and processing of farm produce, animal husbandry, goat rearing, fish farming and small businesses will be used to build those earnings.

From small work to enterprise

Women should move beyond traditional tasks to agro-based small industry, the Minister said. A pulse mill can be set up where pulses grow well, and oil extraction units or tomato ketchup making are equally possible. Training, machines and technical help will be arranged for this. He also said efforts will be made to get women credit with little or no collateral, and welcomed the Women Farmers' Forum as a place where women can learn from one another.

Housing figures for Sanchi

The Minister said pucca houses for the poor are a priority of his department and that surveyed families living in kuchcha houses will be helped to build permanent homes.