State government to manage cold storage & market, farmers to be linked with food processing industry: CM

Lohardaga: Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that the state government would make arrangements for cold storage and market management in rural areas in order to get a fair price for the agricultural products produced by the farmers. Speaking in a function organised at BS College Stadium Premises here the Chief Minister said that Jharkhand is such a state where people are settled on the banks of mountains, hills, forests and rivers and his government has tried to take development schemes to the people living in these remote areas.

He said that now the officials are taking the information of the schemes to door-to-door in remote rural areas as only when the officials reach door-to-door, the benefits of the schemes will be available to the people. He said that during the Corona when people were locked in their homes, the state 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. He said that during the global pandemic, horticulture became the best source of livelihood and continuous work is being done to connect more and more rural families with Birsa Harit Gram Yojana.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the state government would now set up food processing units in rural areas and farmers will now be linked with the food processing industry. He further said that emphasis will be given to increasing income by doing better processing of things produced from agriculture. The Chief Minister said that in horticulture not only mango trees but also trees like papaya, lemon, amla, litchi, sakhuwa, jackfruit etc should be planted. 

He said that the farmers of the state should try to increase the scope of horticulture. The Chief Minister said that 80 percent of the state’s population is dependent on agriculture and the state government is providing tractors, ploughs and other agricultural equipment at subsidized rates to those who are associated with farming and farmers are also being linked with animal husbandry etc. 

He said that Mukhyamantri Rozgar Srijan Yojana has also been started to connect the youth with employment under which loans have been arranged for various types of small jobs ans now the youth can join employment by taking loan, do poultry farming or other animal husbandry or open shops, hotels, salons, goods carts etc. Apart from agriculture, all these small sources of employment are also a better option for economic prosperity he said adding all these things have also been a tradition in Jharkhand.

The Chief Minister said that whether people have 1 acre of land or 50 acres the state government will help in horticulture and if barren land is available then people should do collective horticulture on that land also and take a collective lease from the state government. Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that Sarvajan Pension Yojana has been implemented in the state and the government is working to give pensions to people above 60 years of age group. He said that 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.

He said that 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 a pension. The Chief Minister said that his government is working with a dedicated spirit towards the welfare of villages, poor, farmers and the needy. Hemant Soren said that the State Government has worked to increase the Mnrega wage rate in Jharkhand and currently beneficiaries are getting Rs 237 per day.

He said that Coordination is being established with the central government for timely payment of wages to the beneficiaries. He said that officials have also been directed to ensure that there are no problems in the payment of wages. The Chief Minister said that his government respects the Tana Bhagat community and now they are being provided four thousand rupees twice a year to the families of Tana Bhagats for clothes. That is, in one year, eight thousand rupees are being made available for clothes.

The Chief Minister said that his government is committed for the all-around development of Tana Bhagat community. Planningcum- Finance Minister Dr Rameshwar Oraon, Rural Development Department Minister Aalamgir Aalam and others were present on the occasion.