Moving one step further towards making the State cashless within no time, Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Sunday told farmers to use cashless ways of transactions in their further financial activities. Speaking on the occasion of Cashless Jharkhand Krishak Samvad, the Chief Minister also announced a number of pro-poor measures for farmer fraternity of the State, including those in poultry farming, fisheries, dairy products, honey bee farming and allied farming businesses.
The Chief Minister urged almost 70 per cent of the population of State to go cashless in their further financial transactions, as it was to benefit them only in the long run. He asked that the government was eyeing at converting at least 29 blocks of the State cashless by December 31. He also said that the farmers were to play extremely important role in making the State cashless by the end of financial year 2016-17 ending on March 31, 2017.
“We need to take benefit of JAM—J for Jan Dhan Account, A for Aadhaar and M for Mobile for promoting cashless transactions. We are targeting Jharkhand to become the first cashless State in India and all of you are the possible brand ambassadors of this ambitious move of the visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which would help country get rid of corruption, terrorism and would bring prosperity to all,” claimed the CM in front of thousands of farmers coming from across the State.
Cashless Jharkhand Krishak Samvad was organised as one among dozens of ongoing sector-specific programmes to encourage people of those sectors for cashless transaction. He also announced Rs 4 lakh assistance to Below the Poverty line (BPl) family women for poultry farming in next financial year budget, apart from assurance of 100 per cent employment to those struggling for livelihood below the poverty line. The CM also urged the farmers to help state become Open Defection Free (ODF) and Green Jharkhand.
Organised by the agriculture department of the government, Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma, Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary Amit Khare, MlA Gangotri Kujur, CJM of NABARD, Bank of India Chief Manager Khalid Parvez and many other officials were present at the occasion other than department Minister Randhir Kumar Singh, Secretary and Birsa Agriculture University Acting Vice Chancellor Nitin Madan Kulkarni, Special Secretary Pooja Singhal, Director Jatashanker Chowdhary, Fisheries Director Rajiv Kumar, District Agriculture Officer (Ranchi) Vikas Kumar and others.
Agriculture Minister Randhir Kumar Singh said at the occasion that bringing the change of development down to each and every farmer was one of the foremost goals of the government. He said that the State was developing 12 cold storages, with a number of new things to come for the farmers. Rajbala Verma also urged farmers to go for additional income generation by opting poultry farming, dairy products development, animal husbandry and others.