Chief Minister Hemant Soren today said that the State government would make arrangements for cold storage and market management in rural areas to ensure that the farmers get fair price for the agricultural products produced by them. The CM said that Jharkhand is such a State where people are settled on the banks of mountains, hills, forests and rivers. Our government has tried to take development schemes to the people living in these remote areas. Now the officials are taking the information of the schemes door-to-door in remote rural areas. Only when the officials reach door-to-door, the benefits of the schemes will be available to the people, he said.
“During the Corona transition period, when people were locked in their homes, our government had started the Birsa Harit Gram Yojana in the State. Under the Birsa Harit Gram Yojana, a large number of villagers have been associated with the work of horticulture. During the global pandemic, horticulture became the best source of livelihood. Continuous work is being done to connect more and more rural families with Birsa Harit Gram Yojana,” he said in his address at the Birsa Harit Gram Yojana Award Ceremony and Asset Distribution Programme organised at BS College Stadium Complex, Lohardaga on Wednesday.
On the occasion, the CM said that the State government would now set up food processing units in rural areas. Farmers will now be linked with the food processing industry. Emphasis will be given to increase income by doing better processing of things produced from agriculture. Our government is making continuous efforts for this, he added.
The CM said that in horticulture, not only mango trees, but also trees like papaya, lemon, amla, litchi, sakhwa, jackfruit etc should be planted. The farmers of the State should try to increase the scope of horticulture. He said that 80 per cent of the State's population is dependent on agriculture. The State government is providing tractors, plows and other agricultural equipment at subsidized rates to those who are associated with farming. Farmers are also being linked with animal husbandry etc.
The CM said that Mukhyamantri Rozgar Generation Yojana has also been started to connect the youth with employment. Under this scheme, loans have been arranged for various types of small jobs. Now the youth can join employment by taking loan, poultry farming, other animal husbandry, shops, hotels, salons, goods carts etc. Apart from agriculture, all these small sources of employment are also a better option for economic prosperity. All these things have also been a tradition in Jharkhand. He said that whether you have 1 acre of land or 50 acres, the state government will help you for horticulture. If government barren land is available around you, then you should do collective horticulture on that land also and take a collective lease from the state government.
Soren further said that Sarvajan Pension Yojana has been implemented in the State. Our government is working to give pension to people above 60 years of age group. Instructions have been given to the officers to ensure that the eligible pensioners who come under the purview of all types of social security like Widow Pension, Divyang Pension etc should get the amount of pension on time. Strict instructions have been given to the officers from block level to district level to ensure that the eligible people covered under social security should not face any problem in getting pension.
The CM said that the State Government has worked to increase the MGNREGA wage rate in Jharkhand. At present, MGNREGA beneficiaries are getting wage rate of Rs 237 per day. Coordination is being established with the central government for timely payment of MGNREGA wages to the beneficiaries. Officials have also been directed to ensure that there are no problems in payment of wages. He said that our government respects the Tana Bhagat community. Now, it is providing Rs 4,000 twice a year to the families of Bhagat community for clothes.
The CM and other distinguished guests, on the occasion distributed citation among the beneficiaries of Lohardaga, Khunti, Gumla, Ranchi and Latehar districts in the Birsa Harit Gram Yojana Award ceremony along with acceptance letter to the new beneficiaries of the financial year 2022-23 and Lohardaga, Khunti Fruit-bearing saplings were distributed among the beneficiaries of Gumla, Ranchi and Latehar districts. A book related to Birsa Harit Gram Yojana was also released on this occasion. On the occasion, mementoes were presented to the Chief Minister and special guests.
On this occasion, Minister of Planning-cum-Finance Department, Dr. Rameshwar Oraon, Minister of Rural Development Department, Alamgir Alam, Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Prasad Sahu, MLA Gumla Bhushan Tirkey, Principal Secretary, Rural Development, Ajay Kumar Singh, Secretary to CM Vinay Kumar Choubey, MGNREGA Commissioner Rajeshwari B, Deputy Commissioner Lohardaga Waghmare Prasad Krishna, Superintendent of Police Lohardaga R. Rajkumar, along with others were present.