Una, August 15:- Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Prof. Chandra Kumar participated as the chief guest in the district level function organized in Una on Independence Day. He hoisted the flag in the premises of Government Senior Secondary Student School Una and addressed the people of the district after taking the salute of the march past. On this occasion, tableaux were taken out on developmental schemes and cultural programs were also organized.
In his address, Prof. Chandra Kumar congratulated the people of Una district on Independence Day and paid tribute to the sacred memories of all the freedom fighters who fought for the independence of the country. He also remembered the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the independence of the country.
The Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister said that increasing the income of farmers is the priority of the state government. About 69 percent of the state's population is directly or indirectly associated with the agriculture sector. In view of this, the government has taken decisive steps to increase agricultural production and increase the income of farmers.
150 crores for Him Unnati to promote natural farming
The government will buy naturally grown wheat at the minimum support price of Rs 40 and maize at Rs 30 per kilogram
The Agriculture Minister said that the Himachal government has implemented the Him Unnati Yojana to promote natural farming. A budget of Rs 150 crore has been allocated for this. Under this, a target has been set to establish 2600 agricultural groups to include about 50 thousand farmers. The government has decided that naturally grown wheat will be purchased at a minimum support price of Rs 40 and maize at Rs 30 per kilogram. This minimum support price is the highest in all the states of the country. Through this, self-employment will be promoted and new sources of income generation will be created for the youth.
Himachal is the only state in the country to give minimum support price on milk purchase
Prof. Chandra Kumar said that Himachal is the only state in the country to provide minimum support price on milk purchase. The government has increased the minimum support price on cow milk from Rs. 32 to Rs. 45 per liter and buffalo milk from Rs. 47 to Rs. 55 per liter. To develop the milk based business system in the state, the quality of milk purchase, processing, marketing system is being improved through Him Ganga Yojana.
Will bring changes in the structure of agriculture and animal husbandry
The Agriculture Minister said that the government is working to change the structure of farming and animal husbandry in the state. Efforts are being made to promote such an agricultural system which will strengthen the economy of the farmers. Our effort is to promote natural farming by reducing the use of chemicals in crops. He said that in the second phase of the JICA project, the target is to bring 50 thousand hectares of additional land under vegetable production in the financial year 2024-25.
241 crores are being spent to provide better irrigation facilities in Una
Prof. Chandra Kumar said that good farming depends on good irrigation system. Therefore, the state government is working to provide better irrigation facilities to the farmers. For this, two major irrigation schemes worth Rs 120 crore in Una district, Beet Area and Kutlehad Phase-II are being sent to the Union Jal Shakti Ministry for approval. Apart from this, Rs 121 crore is being spent on 16 schemes under NABARD in the district. The work of all these schemes is going on at a fast pace.
The government fulfilled its promise
The Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister said that Congress had given 10 guarantees to the people during the elections, most of which have been fulfilled. Many big and historic decisions have been taken, including restoration of old pension. The government has also fulfilled its promise of giving financial assistance of Rs 1500 every month to eligible women by starting the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana. Under this scheme, Rs 3 crore 27 lakh 60 thousand has been deposited in the bank accounts of 7280 women in Una district by releasing the amount for three months in lump sum.
6,000 destitute children given the status of Children of the State
Prof. Chandra Kumar said that after the passing of Himachal Pradesh Sukhashray Bill, 6,000 destitute children of the state have now got the status of Children of the State. Due to the sensitivity of Chief Minister Mr. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Himachal Pradesh is the first state to make such a law. He said that the government will play the role of parents of destitute children till the age of 27 years and will bear all the expenses of their education and after making them self-reliant, will also provide 3 biswa land for building a house.
The Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister said that in the recent past, heavy rains and floods have caused huge losses in many parts of the state. In Una too, there has been a huge loss of life and property due to the floods. Many precious lives were lost in this disaster. He said that last year too, the state had to suffer huge losses due to the terrible disaster. But the state government increased the compensation for the affected people despite its limited resources. It worked promptly to meet their needs. In this sad time, the state government is standing firmly with all the affected people. The government is working with commitment for the rehabilitation of all the affected people.
These were honored
On this occasion, the Agriculture Minister honoured inspirational personalities who have achieved outstanding achievements in social life and employees of various departments who have done excellent work.
Dehlan based Aashray Sansthan and Prem Ashram Una were honoured for emphasising on the all-round development of Divyang children and for supporting education and skills. Both the institutes were given a certificate along with an honorarium of Rs. 21,000 each.
Safai Karmacharis of Municipal Council Una were honoured with a sum of 51 thousand rupees for their better work and service spirit. Jarnail Singh of Una was honoured for his great achievement of being appointed as coach for Under-19 boys in National Cricket Academy. Whereas, Jatinder Kumar of Rampur was honoured with a cash prize of Rs. 5100 each for helping in saving precious lives of people by his skill in catching snakes and Kulbir Singh of Una for discharging his duties with utmost dedication in Child Helpline Una and Kulwant Singh of Bahdala for saving a woman who was drowning in the river near Bahdala School.
Apart from this, 65-year-old Ajit Singh of Rakkad Colony was honored for his achievement of winning three silver medals in 5 thousand, 15 hundred and 800 meter race in Singapore and Vanshika Thakur was honored for securing 385 rank in the Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (SSC-CGL) examination and Principal of Model Senior Secondary School Amb, Vinod Kumar was honored for making the school an ideal school in sports as well as studies.
Ram Kumar of Bhatoli was honoured for his excellent artwork of subtle writing style on the paintings, while cartoonist Sunil Kumar of Una was honoured for his commendable work in the field of painting.
On this occasion, the Agriculture Minister also felicitated the students who topped the district in school examinations in the academic session 2023-24. He felicitated Arshita of DAV Senior Secondary School Una for securing 490 marks in Arts stream in class 12 and topping the district in class 12 by scoring 100 marks in Commerce stream. Ishaan Sharma of Barnoh was felicitated for clearing JEE Mains 2024 and getting admission in NIT Hamirpur. All of them were felicitated with a certificate and cash prize of Rs. 1100 each.
He felicitated Arpita Rana of St. D.R. Public Senior Secondary School, Gagret on behalf of the district administration for securing first position in the district by scoring 490 marks in science stream in class 12th and Shaurya Bhardwaj of Gurukul Public Senior Secondary School, Pakka Paroh Amb for securing first position in the district by scoring 694 marks in class 10th.
Apart from this, Inspector Manoj Kumar, Assistant Sub Inspector Amit Thakur, Head Constable Mohinder Singh, Honorary Head Constable Balwinder Singh, Constable Baljeet Singh, Lady Constable Anuradha, Ram Kumari and Reena Kumari of the Police Department were honored for performing their duties with full dedication and devotion.
He also felicitated the participants who presented the march past and cultural programmes in the programme. Tableaux based on social messages and development schemes were also taken out in the function. These included tableaux related to Mukhyamantri Sukh Ashray Yojana, Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar Student Loan Scheme, Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao Abhiyan, Catch the Rain, and agriculture-horticulture, Samarthya Programme and District Disaster Authority.
Earlier, the Agriculture Minister paid homage to the immortal martyrs by garlanding the Martyrs Memorial located at MC March Una.
It is present
Kutlahar MLA Vivek Sharma, former Una Sadar MLA Satpal Raizada, former Ganesh Dutt Bharwal, District Congress President Ranjeet Rana, State Congress Secretaries Ashok Thakur and Deshraj Gautam, Congress District OBC Cell Chairman Pramod Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Jatin Lal, Superintendent of Police Rakesh Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner Mahendra Pal Gurjar, SDM Una Vishwamohan Dev Chauhan along with other officers, school children, representatives of social organizations and a large number of Una city residents were present.
Apart from this, Independence Day celebrations were held at all sub-divisional headquarters in the district. The concerned SDM presided over the programmes there