Stressing on the need for establishing a cordial relationship between lab and land, Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced that more than 60 per cent of the State’s next year budget will be allocated for farmers. Das was addressing a gathering during the inaugural ceremony of newly-constructed Krishi Bhawan building at Kanke Road here on Friday.
“More than 60 per cent of the budget for the next financial year is being diverted for farmers only so that their condition could be further improved,” said the CM. Das also directed scientists of Birsa Agricultural University and the Agriculture department officials to take proper steps in the direction of establishing a better relationship between agricultural laboratories and lands so that the foodgrain production could be further increased in the State.
According to the CM, agriculture is said to be the spinal cord of economy of any State or country, so priority of his Government was to give importance to agriculture and farmers. “We have set up a target to reach out to the last person sitting on the social strata and bring smile on his face as village and the poor living in it are the priorities of this Government,” added the CM. Purpose of construction of such a modern building will not be fulfilled until modern work culture is adopted and quick action is taken by the officials there, he said.
Das also appealed to farmers to propagate their knowledge to others as it was also the responsibility of 3.25 crore people of this State to make this state prosperous. “If everyone in this state starts doing his or her duty honestly, then Jharkhand has the potential to be counted among one of the prosperous states of this country,” added the CM.
Referring to problem of irrigation in Jharkhand, Das said that there is no dearth of water in this state. “Since Jharkhand is located on plateau and water table gets down very soon, creating scarcity of water in this state,” he added.
“By giving rights of construction of check dams to the village agricultural committee, we have been making all efforts so that the village water is conserved for the use of villagers, while the city water is used by the city dwellers,” the CM said. Earlier, the Chief Minister along with Agriculture Minister Randheer Kumar Singh performed puja before inaugurating the newly constructed building.
The new Krishi Bhawan, spread over 74,855 square feet, has been built with a fund of `8,05,41,000 crore. The foundation stone was laid by the then Chief Minister Arjun Munda in the year 2012. The newly constructed building has 94 rooms, 14 big halls and a conference hall of 1348 square feet area.