IEP Chandigarh, September 22

Haryana Chief Secretary, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal said that Haryana is using live map technology to identify accident-prone areas in the state. Using this technology, a grid is automatically generated for such places on the live map and the police gets information about such places immediately. He directed that the data of live map technology should be shared with all the stakeholder Departments like Police, Public Works, Health, Transport and Urban Local Bodies Departments so that special focus can be given on such accident prone areas to overcome the road accidents across the state.

While presiding over the meeting of Road Safety Fund Management Committee here today, Sh. Kaushal said that changing lane frequently by heavy vehicles is one of the major cause of accidents on highways. Therefore, sign boards should be installed on the left sides of roads for the movement of passengers and heavy vehicles and this rule should also be strictly followed. He further said that adequate lighting arrangements, sign boards and beautification work should be done on all the highways.  Apart from this, reflective tapes and sign boards should also be set up to reduce the chances of accidents at blind spots and crossings during night time.

In the meeting, a budget of about Rs 36 crore has been approved for the road safety activities and to improve infrastructure this year. The Chief Secretary said that the budget should be allocated to the District Road Safety Committees in a planned manner. He directed that the District committees should prepare a chart of the various activities to be carried out for road safety during this year and ensure the proper utilization of the funds allocated to them.

In the meeting, a budget of Rs. 30 lakh has been allocated to the District Road Safety Committees in the state. Besides this, an amount of more than Rs. 3 crore has been allocated for various development works for Driving Training and Research Institute (IDTR) to be set up at Yamunanagar, Palwal and Sonepat.

It was informed in the meeting that a road safety awareness campaign is being run by the Higher Education Department to make college students aware about road safety measures. For organizing various awareness activities and wide publicity of road safety rules, Rs 1.20 crore was allocated to the Higher Education Department for this campaign. Similarly, Rs 1.74 crore was allocated to the School Education Department for road safety awareness campaign. Apart from this, budget has also been allocated for other programmes under road safety activities.

In the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Sh. T.V.S.N Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works (Building and Roads), Sh. Ankur Gupta, Director-General of Police, Sh. P.K Agrawal, Principal Secretary, Transport, Sh. Navdeep Virk and other senior officers were present.

IEP Chandigarh, September 22

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said that air travel facility from Ambala to Srinagar will soon be available to the citizens of the state. The Union Civil and Aviation Ministry has accorded approval regarding the same.

The Home Minister was presiding over a meeting with the officers of the Civil and Aviation Department, Haryana in his office today. He directed the officers to complete all the necessary formalities. Along with this, air travel from Ambala to Lucknow will also begin soon. The Air Force has also given NOC to start air travel in Ambala. About 20 acres of land along the junction of the military has been selected for the construction of the terminal at Ambala and this land has been transferred by the army to the Air Force. The terminal will be built on this land at a cost of about Rs. 40 crore, for which funds have also been approved by the Union Ministry. He informed that till the time the terminal is not ready for operations, air travel will begin by making a temporary terminal. For this, the team has surveyed and sent the report.

Additional Chief Secretary, Civil, and Aviation Department, Ankur Gupta, Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Priyanka Soni, Chief Executive Officer of International Chandigarh Airport,  Rakesh Ranjan Sahay were present during the meeting.

IEP Chandigarh September 21, 2022

Haryana Government’s Apex Cooperative Federation, Hafed, has started exploring business opportunities in other countries to expand the export business.

Managing Director, Hafed Sh. A. Sreenivas, informed that HAFED has started diversifying its activities to exports. In this series, Hafed has received an order for export of 20,000 metric tonnes of rice, valued at 21.95 million USD, to Saudi Arabia. HAFED has successfully delivered its first consignment of 2,500 MT of Basmati rice on September 10, 2022, the remaining quantity is likely to be dispatched in the last week of September 2022. He informed that for the purpose of export of rice, HAFED procured over 20,000 MT different variants of Basmati Rice from the farmers of Haryana at market rate.

The Managing Director informed that HAFED has also emphasized on infrastructure augmentation and has taken up several projects. He informed that HAFED has started expansion and modernization of existing processing units and also focusing on setting up of new plants. Chairman HAFED, Sh. Kailash Bhagat, appreciated the efforts made by the officers & officials of HAFED for successful shipment of rice export to Saudi Arabia.

IEP Chandigarh, September 21

When Veerpal Kaur, a resident of Mithri village in Sirsa district decided to try her luck in shrimp production, not many supported the decision, but today she not only has paved the way for other women like her to choose this business but has also set an example how the saline water which is considered a curse for agriculture can prove a boon. Like Veerpal Kaur, a beneficiary of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), six other women of the same village have also started the business of white shrimp production in an area of about 18 acres including 30 ponds.

The women of the Sirsa district believe that this new-age farming has certainly changed the fortune of farmers in the region.   Notably, under the PMMSY 60 percent subsidy is given to the women belonging to scheduled caste, and tribe beneficiaries, while 40 percent is given to the general category. 

The commitment of Sh. Manohar Lal towards promoting the production of shrimp in saline land and waterlogged areas in the state can be seen from the fact that he had recently announced to give advance subsidy to the beneficiaries of the PMMSY if there is any delay in the subsidy coming from the Central Government.

After the Green Revolution, Haryana swiftly moving towards the Blue Revolution

Once known for its significant contribution to the Green Revolution, Haryana under the dynamic leadership of the Chief Minister is now working on a mission mode to swiftly move towards the Blue Revolution. 

It was on May 2020, when Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi announced the PMMSY as he stressed upon the need to bring the Blue Revolution to the country through sustainable and responsible development of the fisheries sector in India.

The State has started making Blue Revolution a success story by promoting it at the grassroot level with the formation of a cluster demonstration farm of shrimp farming and organizing workshops for progressive shrimp farmers of the Sirsa district.

Like every time, this time also Sh. Manohar Lal immediately started to realize Prime Minister’s vision by promoting the shrimp fisheries business in Sirsa district having immense potential for the development of fisheries.

Under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), white shrimp farming was started in Haryana on an area of 70 acres in the year 2014-15.  After its success, this farming was implemented in Karnal, Sonipat, Faridabad, Gurugram, Mewat, Palwal, Rohtak, Jind, Bhiwani, Hisar, Sirsa, Rewari, Jhajjar, Fatehabad and Charkhi Dadri districts.

Meanwhile, during 2021-22, a record production of 2900 metric tonnes of shrimp was done on 1250 acres.  Along with this, the Fisheries Department has aimed to double its target during the year 2022-23, and to achieve the same department has geared up to promote shrimp production business in saline water areas and fisheries in other freshwater areas.

With the implementation of such farmer-friendly schemes, farmers are now more inclined toward doing this business.

In the year 2014, one lakh metric tonnes of fish were produced in Haryana in a total farming area of 43000 acres and this year the target has been increased to 54000 acres. Besides this, the State Government has also set a target of increasing production to 2.10 lakh metric tonnes.

Fish farming ensures more income for the farmers

Apart from being an agrarian state, Haryana, which has contributed significantly to the country’s economy through industrial development, will now ensure its significant contribution through fisheries. 

With the beginning of the Blue Revolution, Haryana started achieving new heights. Production is done twice a year from the fisheries business. Within 125 to 150 days shrimps and other varieties are ready to bring to the market

About 6 tonnes of lobster is produced in one hectare and its market price is more than Rs 380 per kg.  Biofloc shrimp farming is also done using 7 Plastic Drums.  About 600 kg of shrimp are produced in a tank, thus 4200 kg of shrimp is produced, which has a market cost of Rs. 130 per kg. 

Similarly, the price of fish produced in freshwater is Rs 110 per kg.  In a year, a profit of about Rs 13.60 lakh per hectare is earned from shrimp farming, while a profit of Rs 5 lakh is earned from Biofloc shrimp farming technique and Rs 6 lakh per hectare is earned from the fish production in freshwater.

Just like Kisan Credit, fish farmers also to get credit cards

Like the Kisan Credit Card, the government is also providing the facility of credit cards to fish farmers. Similarly, the government is also holding discussions with banks and insurance companies for providing insurance facilities for fisheries as well.