The Chhattisgarh Government has prepared a blueprint to double the income of farmers in the next six years by 2020, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister observed a presentation made by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh at a high-level meeting chaired by the former in New Delhi.
Singh in his detailed presentation said that State had made short-term and long-term projects to increase the incomes of farmers.
He said under the Prime Minister Farm Irrigation Scheme the State had made schemes worth Rs 54,931 crore to be implemented soon.
The Chief Minister provided details of water conservation projects under the MGNREGA during the past decade in Chhattisgarh. Several important local projects had been completed.
Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, State Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, Additional Chief Secretary of Agriculture Department Ajay Singh, Chief Minister's Principal Secretary Aman Kumar Singh, top Central Government and State Government officers were also present.
Singh said that the target is to insure 15 lakh farmers under the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme in the current fiscal.
The Chief Minister expressed his gratitude to the Centre for the financial help extended to the State for the drought-affected regions. The State received 1000 mm rainfall instead of 1200 mm rainfall and the State is facing drought for the first time in a decade, he said.
The State had declared 117 tehsils as drought-affected out of 150 tehsils, Singh said.
He said that financial assistance to the tune of Rs 502 crore to ten lakh farmers had been provided. long-term plans are groundwater conservation, drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation and enlarging the land for irrigation purposes. The target is to construct 53 thousand tanks in the current fiscal.
Plans are afoot to solve drinking water crisis. Water ATMs are being started in urban regions, Singh said.
Taxes to the tune of Rs 2.60 crore farmers and Irrigation Tax had been waived-off for 6.90 lakh farmers. One quintal rice had been distributed in 9000 drought-affected villages, he said.
Steps are taken to provide 200 days of employment to 10 lakh labourers under MGNREGA with an allocated budget of Rs 80 crore. Electricity worth Rs 208 crore had been provided free of cost to 4 lakh irrigation pumps to the farmers, Singh said.
A total of 1500 units of additional power is distributed free of cost to the irrigation pumps. One quintal additional paddy seeds are being distributed to the farmers during the Kharif season, he said.
Singh said that under the long-term project a programme had been chalked out to double the income of farmers by 2022. The farmers are provided loans at Zero per cent interest. Six barrages on Mahanadi will be completed by 2017, he said.
It will irrigate an additional 3,146 hectare acreage and State will get extra revenue of Rs 200 crore. Eighty thousand hectares of extra acreage will be brought under cultivation every year. Roof-top rainwater harvesting will be encouraged in urban regions. Drip and sprinkler irrigation are being encouraged in the State, Singh said.
Notably, an amount of Rs 835.695 crore has been released to the State under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), after adjustments of the State balances. This is in addition to Rs 249.725 crore released as central share of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for 2015-16 to the State. A further amount of Rs 94.875 crore has been released as first instalment of SDRF for 2016-17.
The Chief Minister mentioned the water conservation measures initiated by the State. These include desilting of 8055 water bodies and farm ponds, construction of 44,181 new farm ponds, and construction of 9851 ground water recharge structures.
The drought relief measures initiated in the State include provision of drinking water and foodgrains in each village.
Singh said that one quintal of rice has been kept with each Panchayat, to ensure that no one starves in the villages. The State has used Remote Sensing Technology to identify watersheds and plan irrigation strategies.
The Chief Minister thanked the Prime Minister for implementing the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.
He said the additional funds that have been made available to local bodies, have made it possible to restart Piped Water Schemes that had stalled due to lack of funds. Now all Piped Water Schemes in the State are functional.
Singh also spoke about the State’s programme to construct anicuts, and the State Government’s afforestation efforts.