Advisor Ganai for bridging gap between farmers, agri dept

Srinagar, July 9: Advisor to the Governor, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai Monday stressed on identifying appropriate technological advances in the field of agriculture and helping the farmers to adopt the same so that it leads to overall progress of this vital sector. He said this while chairing a review meeting of Agriculture Production Department (APD). The meeting was attended by Commissioner/Secretary APD, M D Khan, Director Agriculture, Kashmir, Altaf Andrabi, Director Agriculture, Jammu, H K Razdan, Special Secretary APD, Leena Padha, Director Command Area Kashmir, Harun Malik, Director Command Area, Jammu, Jatinder Singh, Directors from SKUAST Jammu/Kashmir and other senior officers of the Department. The Advisor emphasized on bridging the gap between farmers and officers of the Department and exhorted upon them to impart technical skills for improving their agricultural produce. “The role of our Agricultural Universities is of paramount importance in researching and practically implementing its results in the field. For this, the farmers have to be taken on board as they are the principal stakeholders,” he added. Calling for close monitoring of schemes, especially flagship Central programmes, Ganai said increasing the frequency of the interactions with the farming community will yield better results in the agricultural sector, which comprises of the backbone of the State’s economy. Describing entrepreneurship in farming sector as pivotal for its growth, the Advisor asked the officers to make strenuous efforts to motivate farmers to open bank accounts so that it becomes easier for them to avail benefits entailed under various schemes, aimed at promoting farming in the State. He also directed them to frame and augment a comprehensive plan for increasing vegetable production in the State, especially targeting exports which generates good revenue and creates ample job opportunities. The Advisor directed the Administrative Secretary to expedite all files pertaining to the CSSs so that future installments are sourced in time from the concerned Central Ministry, paving way for effective implementation of the flagship programmes in the State. He also directed the Agriculture Secretary to immediately move proposals with the Planning, Finance and General Administration Departments to fill up all vacant posts so that the Department functions at optimum capacity. Asking the Department to operationalize Bio-metric attendance to scale up accountability, besides canceling all attachments in pursuance to the orders issued by the Government, the Advisor directed the concerned HoDs within the Department to submit those cases only which deserve re-consideration on extremely compassionate grounds, as per the circular by the General Administration Department. He also directed Administrative Secretary to convene separate meetings of the Planning and Finance Wings of the Department to expedite revalidation, seeking UCs, submission of proposals and pursuing release of funds with the Central Government.