Srinagar, Oct 05:
Secretary Agriculture Production Department, Manzoor Ahmad Lone chaired a high-level meeting of concerned officers to review the status of ongoing projects funded under NABARD here at agriculture complex Lalmandi. Secretary APD also reviewed the status of DPR’s formulated for raising institutional financing under NABARD funding. The meeting was informed that for the financial year 2018-19 under NABARD Rs 38 crore worth of projects have been submitted for approval for Agriculture Sector. peaking on the occasion Manzoor Ahmad Lone said that ground level projects enable NABARD to touch almost every aspect of Rural economy. He asked the participants for preparation and submission of DPR’s and project completion reports with focus on developing composite, multidimensional and multipurpose infrastructural utilities. He said, “80 to 90% of State population is directly or indirectly connected to agriculture and horticulture sectors and there is huge potential to create more employment in the State given the potential of these sectors, therefore DPR’s should be prepared in such a manner that all the stake holders must be taken on board.” He asked the concerned officers to expedite the expenditure in the ongoing projects and submit utilization certificates (UC’s) and project completion reports (PCR’s) immediately. He asked the officers to assess the viability and economic sustainability of all the projects that are being submitted for funding under NABARD assistance.
Lone asked the officers to take all the works in a mission mode and ensure their completion in a set time frame with all the quality standards uphold. He impressed upon the officers to explore the opportunities for promoting entrepreneurial culture among the farmers, rural youth and encourage them to start agri-based enterprises. He highlighted the importance of capacity development measures for farmers. Among others Director Planning APD A.K. Gandhotra, Director Agriculture Kashmir Syed Altaf Aijaz Andrabi, Director Agriculture Jammu H K Razdan, M D Agro’s Bhawani Rakhwal, Director Sericulture Kashmir Gulzar Shabanum, Director HPMC Shanawaz Bukhari, Director Planning and monitoring SKUAST(K), (J) attended the meeting.
