Rural Industrial Parks will turn Bapu’s vision of Gram Swaraj and self-sufficient villages into reality : CM Baghel

Raipur: Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said that more economic activities are required to be organized in gauthans to develop it as a Rural Industrial Park. This would not only make the villagers self-sufficient, but will also realize Gandhi Ji’s vision of Gram Swaraj and self-sufficient villages. He was addressing an online transfer programme at his residence office here today. In this programme, an amount of Rs 10.90 crore was transferred into the bank accounts of cattle rearing villagers, women groups associated with Gauthans and Gauthan committees under Godhan Nyay Yojana. The aforementioned amount includes Rs 2.95 crore paid to farmers and cattle-rearing villagers in lieu of the dung procured in Gauthans from June 1 to June 15, Rs 4.79 crore paid to Gauthan committees and dividend amount of Rs 3.16 crore to women groups.Baghel said that besides the production of organic manure in Gauthans, many economic activities such as poultry, fish farming, mushroom production, vegetable production are being conducted by women self-help groups. Also, the work of value addition to minor forest produce is also being conducted. This has greatly benefitted the women of the village and has boosted their confidence. More such activities should be organized in the Gauthans to develop it as rural industrial parks. These rural industrial parks will make our villages self-supporting and will also realize Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj and self-supporting villages.Chief minister said that the days of agriculture and farming have arrived. Farmers must have started their preparations with great enthusiasm. I am sure that crop production and area under cultivation will be increased this year. Paddy is being produced in abundance in Chhattisgarh, but now you should think about cultivating other crops as well to earn more profit. Today, arrangements have been made for providing input assistance for all Kharif crops under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana. If a farmer chooses crops according to the quality of the land of his area, then they will make more profit.Baghel urged farmers to use organic fertilizers in place of chemical fertilizers to increase soil fertility and reduce production cost. He said that the state is not receiving adequate supply of chemical fertilizers from the central government. We are constantly making efforts in this regard. The production of organic fertilizers being done in villages under Godhan Nyay Yojana has given great support to the farmers of Chhattisgarh. This year we are gearing up for the production of organic manure on a larger scale. I have instructed the officials concerned to ensure maximum procurement of cow dung and production of organic manure on a large scale through women self-help groups. All the livestock farmers, self-help groups and Gauthan committees associated with Godhan Nyay Yojana have to carry forward their work with a bigger goal this time. We have always paid you every installment of Godhan Nyay Yojana on time. I released the last installment on June 05 from Kanker. Today the payment of the 46th installment is being done from Raipur.Addressing the programme, Agriculture Minister Ravindra Choubey said that with the doubling of the number of Gauthans, the purchase of cow dung has also doubled. When the decision was taken to purchase cow dung at the rate of Rs 2 per Kg in the state, no one could have believed that it would become such a big campaign not only in the state but in the whole country. So far, cow dung worth Rs 147 crore has been purchased. Gothan committees purchased cow dung worth Rs 14 crore using their own funds. Thus cow dung worth about Rs 160 crore has been purchased. We have given an amount of about Rs 136 crore to Gauthan committees. Vermi compost worth about Rs 153 crore has been produced. He said that self-help groups have generated an additional income of about Rs 35 to 40 crore from other income oriented activities in Gauthan. The profit earned from vermicompost and other activities is more than the amount of cow dung purchased. Ayaz Fakir Bhai Tamboli, Nodal Officer of Godhan Nyay Yojana informed about the progress of Godhan Nyay Yojana.