Jammu, Dec 22: Minister for Medical Education, Youth Services and Sports, R S Chib on Thursday said that the government is mulling to enhance the crop compensation for farmers who suffer damages due to natural calamities.
 Speaking at a function organised  to distribute cash assistance of Rs 5.50 crore among 34,000 affected farmers of R.S Pura tehsil this morning, the Minister said that though the hard toil of the farmer cannot be compensated and no relief can commensurate their losses yet it is a measure to help them sustain the wrath of calamities.
 Minister for Revenue, Raman Bhalla, was also present on the occasion.
 Chib said that the government has been endeavouring hard to extend necessary expertise and inputs to farmers for enhancing their yields. “It is with this purpose that numerous centrally sponsored and state funded schemes are being implemented to   boost  agriculture productivity, as   80 percent of the state population is associated with agriculture and allied activities.
 “It is the emaciation of farmers which will lead to   the prosperity of a nation”, the Minister said while urging the farming community to adopt latest techniques and diversify their activities to achieve optimal production.
 The Minister also referred to various other measures undertaken by the Central Government under the stewardship of Omar Abdullah for economic empowerment of people living in rural and far-off areas, with a focus on youth. For enhancing employability, he said, the ambitious SKEWPY scheme has been launched   under which the youth have ample opportunities to set up income generating units and lead a dignified life. In this context, he asked the village youth to take up ventures   which can sustain upon  locally available raw material and added agriculture based units have immense potential  in the fast growing consumer market.
 Referring to the massive developmental activities lunched in the state, Chib spelled out the steps taken in the past three years to upgrade and extend the road network to hitherto uncovered area. Road connectivity, he maintained is imperative for overall development of the state.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 IST