IEP Chandigarh, August 5

 Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Department, Haryana, Sh. Sudhir Rajpal emphasized the need for constructing storage facilities at the village level to accommodate 5000 metric tons of grains under the Agricultural Infrastructure Fund. This step aims to fulfill the grain storage requirements within the state. Additional Chief Secretary, Sh. Rajpal chaired a state-level review meeting of the Agricultural Infrastructure Fund Scheme, where he directed the officers to prioritize the establishment of pack houses for horticulture and vegetable growers and godowns for storage of agricultural products and fertilizers in packs. He said that, so far, a sum of Rs. 886 crore has been approved for 1119 entrepreneurs of Haryana under the scheme, out of which Rs. 736 crore has already been disbursed to 935 entrepreneurs. The Chief Secretary noted that interested entrepreneurs can apply for this scheme by preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPR) through District-level Implementation Committees. The Agricultural Infrastructure Fund Scheme supports post-harvest management and the creation of community agricultural assets, offering medium and long-term loans and financial assistance. The Central Government has allocated Rs. 3900 crore for this initiative, with distribution planned by the year 2025-26. The main aim of the fund is to reduce post-harvest losses and to increase farmers’ income. This scheme provides loans up to Rs. 2 crore for empowering agri-entrepreneurs, start-ups, self-help groups, farmer producer organisations, joint liability groups, primary agricultural credit societies, marketing cooperatives, multi-purpose cooperatives, agricultural produce marketing societies, godowns and silos, cold stores, and cold chains. The government provides up to a 3 percent interest subsidy on these loans. For the year 2023-24, Rs. 925 crore has been allocated for various structures, out of which Rs. 150 crore has already been disbursed. A unique aspect of this scheme is that beneficiaries can also take advantage of this scheme by taking a grant in any scheme of the central and state government, he added. The Additional Chief Secretary unveiled posters outlining the objectives and eligible activities of the scheme during the state-level meeting. Advisor, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, Sh. Amarjit Mann, Director General, Horticulture Department, Dr. Arjun Saini, Additional Director, Agriculture Dr. Rohtas Singh, Sh. Chandra Mohan Dhiman and many bankers remained present at the state-level meeting.

IEP Chandigarh 

Haryana Home Minister, Mr. Anil Vij said that the police is taking pro-active measures to maintain peace in Nuh after unrest. As of now, a total of 104 FIRs have been registered and 216 individuals have been arrested. Moreover, 80 individuals have been detained under preventive custody in connection with Nuh incident. When media persons asked about the viral video of CID Inspector, Mr. Vij said, “I’ve taken note of the video, suitable action will be taken at the appropriate juncture.” Responding to a question regarding Pakistan’s involvement in the Nuh unrest, the Home Minister conveyed that the police are well-versed in these details and are meticulously examining each aspect. Addressing the query about a link between the Punjab-registered vehicle and Hyder Ali during the incident, Mr. Vij said that this information has been forwarded to the authorities for investigation. 

IEP Chandigarh, August 5

 Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, about 32 lakh families in the state are getting the benefits of the PDS scheme. “To simplify the Public Distribution System, our government has made effective changes in the system. Now all the work is being done online in a transparent manner, due to which the beneficiaries, as well as the depot holders, do not have to face any problem to get the ration,” said Sh. Manohar Lal while interacting with the ration depot holders through audio conferencing here today. During the interaction, the depot holders thanked the Chief Minister for simplifying the Public Distribution System. Depot holders said that earlier people used to come to us, again and again, asking the dates of arrival of ration. The Haryana government has linked the information regarding the ration with the consumers’ mobile numbers, which has brought great relief to the consumers as well as to the depot holders. The government has reduced our problems by making the entire process online, said the depot holders. The Chief Minister said that many times a family had to face the problem as someone else used to avail of the ration facility on their behalf or they have only got half of the ration meant for them. To solve this problem, the government has started the EPDS portal. Under this, automatic POS machines have been installed at 9,434 fair-price shops. The ration is being made available to consumers through machines. Due to this, 100 percent distribution of essential commodities is being done after authentication on a biometric basis. Now no ineligible person can get ration by adopting any fraudulent means, informed Sh. Manohar Lal. The Chief Minister said that the government had linked the information of ration with the mobile of the consumers. Now, as soon as the supply reaches the ration shop, the consumers automatically get information about the arrival of the ration through mobile messages. The Chief Minister said that earlier in the old ration cards system; there was no information about any change in the number of family members. There were also doubts related to eligibility. Lack of transparency led to misunderstandings and due to this; there were numerous complaints from consumers. To solve all these problems, we have compiled the data of all the eligible families by taking the help of e-governance and have made all the processes online. Now, with the help of the depot holders, the work of distribution of ration has been made completely transparent and simple,” said Sh. Manohar Lal. The Chief Minister said that while reiterating the state government’s commitment towards women empowerment, the Government has taken a significant step by reserving 33 percent of the ration depots for women. Also, on applying the women applicants would be given allotment priority. He said that it would not be wrong to call the depot holders the charioteers of the Antyodaya Abhiyan launched by the Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi. Because of depot holders, the work to distribute ration to satisfy the hunger of the poorest person is being done in a smooth and hassle-free manner.  Not only this, your role becomes even more important during natural calamities.  The commendable services rendered by you during the COVID-19 pandemic is an example of this, said the Chief Minister. During the COVID-19 pandemic time, the Prime Minister had taken a pledge that no person in the country sleeps hungry. To fulfill this resolution, he had started the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana and the onus was on you to implement this scheme. I feel proud to say that you have left no stone unturned to make this plan a success, said Sh. Manohar Lal. Similarly, the One Nation – One Ration Card Scheme has been launched by Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi to facilitate every ration card holder of the country to get ration anywhere in the country. Earlier, due to employment or any other reason, the poor families living far away from their original residence could not get ration. Now any citizen of the country can get his quota from any

IEP Chandigarh, August 5 

Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal will attend the national-level foundation laying stone function for the redevelopment work of 508 railway stations across the country to be held virtually at Chandigarh Railway station on August 6, 2023.  This programme to be held under the Amrit Bharat Station will be telecast live at all railway stations/venues across the country. Sharing more details in this regard, an official spokesperson said that at present, work of Rs 20,000 crore is in progress in Haryana. Haryana has got a record allocation of Rs. 2,247 crore in the 2023-24 budget. 34 stations have been planned to be developed as world class railway stations. While in the first phase, 15 railway stations of Haryana state have also been included under this scheme, which will be upgraded/modernized. The list of railway stations to be upgraded include, Ambala City, Bhiwani Junction,  Faridabad, Pataudi Road, Hisar, Bahadurgarh, Jind Junction, Narwana Junction, Narnaul, Kalka, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonipat, Yamunanagar-Jagadhari. Cabinet Ministers, Sh. Kanwar Pal and Dr. Kamal Gupta will attend the function in Jagadhri and Hisar railway stations respectively. MLAs, Sh. Aseem Goel will attend the function at Ambala City Railway Station, Sh. Rao Dan Singh at Bhiwani Junction, Sh. Narendra Gupta at Faridabad, Sh. Satya Prakash Jrawta at Pataudi Road, Sh. Rajender Singh Joon at Bahadurgarh, Sh. Krishan Lal Middha at Jind Junction, Ram Niwas at Narwana Junction, Sh. Om Prakash at Narnaul, Sh. Pardeep Chaudhary at Kalka, Sh. Chiranjeev Rao at Rewari, Sh. Bharat Bhushan Batra at Rohtak, Sh. Gopal Kanda at Sirsa and Sh. Surender Panwar will attend the function at Sonipat.