Chandigarh July 4: Haryana Government has decided to construct silos having capacity of 6 lakh metric tonnes in the State under the Warehouse Infrastructure Fund of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for providing sufficient storage facilities of foodgrains. For this, a Rs 200 crore project would be sent to NABARD within next 15 days for approval.

A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal here today to review the progress of various projects being undertaken in the State with the assistance of NABARD. Finance Minister, Capt. Abhimanyu and Chairman NABARD, Dr Harsh Kumar Bhanwala were also present in the meeting.

Mr Manohar Lal said that the State Government has purchased several crops on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in the State. Apart from wheat and rice, each and every grain of bajra, sarson (mustard) and sunflower is being purchased and for this, sufficient storage capacity is required to store the produce after procurement. He directed that a proposal be send to the NABARD at the earliest for releasing required funds to the State for the setting up of silos in those districts initially which have comparatively less storage capacity.

Earlier, it was also agreed that in case funds issued by NABARD for a project could not be utilized by the State Government due to any reason, the same fund would be adjusted in any other NABARD project. Consensus was also reached between both the State Government and NABARD to hold quarterly meetings to fast track various development works being implemented in the State.

The Chief Minister directed the officers that while preparing projects under NABARD, priority should be given to those projects which are related to water be it of drinking water, water conservation or irrigation. Water is a big issue as even Prime Minister; Mr Narendra Modi has also expressed concern on this and stressed the need for water conservation, he added. He said that the present State Government has recently launched Jal Hi Jeevan Hai Scheme to encourage the farmers to shift from the water guzzling crops like paddy and adopt alternative crops such as Maize which require comparatively less water. The scheme has got tremendous response from the farmers as area under maize sowing has reached to 50,000 acre in the State.

He directed the Irrigation and Water Resources Department to explore the possibilities of taking up the project for the rejuvenation and remodeling of 14,000 rural ponds in the State under any scheme of NABARD. He said that the State Government has also constituted Haryana Pond and Waste Water Management Authority for the rejuvenation of these ponds and ensuring continues flow of water so that the same could be utilized for irrigation and other purposes. He also asked the Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Department to prepare a project for the improvement of saline and water logged land in the State.

It was informed that while Food Park at Rai and Saha has already been set up and made functional, the Mega Food Park in Barhi Sonipat is being developed at a cost of Rs 81.65 crore under Food Processing Fund.

Chairman NABARD, Dr Harsh Kumar Bhanwala thanked Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal and assured all possible assistance to the State Government for ensuring rural development. He also stressed the need to further expedite the pace of disbursement of funds. It was also informed that there has been considerable improvement in the sanction and disbursement of funds during last few years. The sanction amount has increased from Rs 500.82 crore in the year 2016-17 to about Rs 1300 crore in 2018-19 and disbursement amount from Rs 386.99 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 736 crore in 2018-19.

Among those present in the meeting included Chief Secretary Mrs Keshni Anand Arora, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr V. Umashankar, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Mrs Navraj Sandhu, Additional Chief Secretary Animal Husbandry and Dairying Mr Sunil Kumar Gulati, Additional Chief Secretary Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Mr S.N Roy, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works (Building and Roads) Mr Alok Nigam, Additional Chief Secretary Industries and Commerce Mr Devender Singh, Principal Secretary Irrigation Mr Anurag Rastogi, Director General Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Mr Ajit Balaji Joshi, Director, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Mr Shekhar Vidyarthi and other senior officers of the State Government.