Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Wednesday called for establishing 200 Kisan Khidmat Centres in Jammu and Kashmir.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that chairing a high-level meeting to review performance of the Agriculture Production Department and progress made in agriculture, allied sector and flagship scheme of Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), the LG directed the officials to establish 2000 Kisan Khidmat Centres on priority for hand holding and clusterisation and linking all farmers to institutional credit.
“Timely and hassle-free credit to small and marginal farmers will play an important role in increasing production,” he said.
Highlighting the important role of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K) and SKUAST-Jammu in conceptualising HADP, Sinha said that the continued support of the two universities in implementation of 29 projects should be ensured.
He directed to extend the Daksh Kisan module to colleges to inform budding entrepreneurs about the scope and opportunities in agri-business.
“The High Density Plantation Scheme (HDPS) has been extended to 13 crops now. The farmers should be provided with guidance and support to chart out a new course and reap the benefits of technology extension, better infrastructure and improved marketing facilities,” the LG told the officials.
He congratulated the officials and all stakeholders generating overwhelming response from farmers across J&K for the ongoing Kisan Sampark Abhiyan.
Sinha directed an impact assessment of Kisan Sampark Abhiyan and exploring the possibility to extend the drive beyond August so that maximum farmers are covered and maximum utilisation of schemes under HADP is ensured.
He said that 29 interventions of HADP focus on quality, productivity, and efficiency in agriculture and allied sectors.
"Our sustained efforts can propel subsistence agriculture to sustainable commercial agri-economy and mitigate the challenges faced by the farming community. It should be our collective endeavour to provide effective IT support for monitoring of HADP's project implementation," the LG said.
He impressed upon the officials for dedicated IT teams to bridge the knowledge deficit, improve the reach and strengthen the inter-sectoral approach for effective implementation.
Sinha issued instructions for using Common Service Centres as learning facilities for youth and directed for monitoring every step of HADP by constituting a dedicated and exclusive IT team with the required technical support.
He also passed directions to the banks to monitor credit disbursal at the highest level.
The LG called for increasing the reach of YouTube channels and to publicise the mobile applications on app download stores and also streamlining Daksh Kisan for hybrid skilling of farmers.
He also took appraisal of the different schemes, initiatives, achievements of the Agriculture Production Department and the progress on the training, orientation, and onboarding and skilling programmes for farmers under HADP.
Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta; Administrative Secretary, Agriculture Production Department (Additional Charge), Shailendra Kumar; Principal Secretary, Finance Department, Santosh D Vaidya; Principal Secretary to LG, Mandeep Kumar Bhandari; Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of J&K Bank, Baldev Prakash; Vice Chancellor of SKUAST-K, Nazir A Ganai attended the meeting at the civil secretariat.
