THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Feb 19: “Hemant Soren government is like a Taza Sabzee (fresh vegetable). Nobody likes stale veggies. This Hemant Soren government is bringing in newer things for your all round development,” said the state Finance Minister Radha Krishna Kishore in the one day Krishi Mela in Daltonganj today.
Ministers address key agricultural issues
When it came to state Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Co-operative Department Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey, she in her speech asked the officials to ‘delink’ the Village Level Workers (VLWs) from doing all odd jobs neglecting their prime duties of caring and standing with the farmers. Shilpi Neha Tirkey got a good applause.
The state Finance Minister called on the stage District Animal Husbandry Officer Prabhakar Sinha and gave him a good tongue lashing and asked him to leave Palamu as he is a non-performer. The minister was displeased to note the tardy progress here in Palamu in the Pashu Dhan Yojna.
However, it was Suresh Kumar who was to bear the brunt of the Finance Minister since Suresh Kumar is the District Dairy Development Officer here who is squarely responsible for the tardy progress in the Pashu Dhan Yojna but Sinha appeared on his behalf only to get a public dressing down by the minister.
Call for crop diversification and water management
Shilpi Neha Tirkey asked the farmers why they don’t earn more by adopting the cultivation of newer crops instead of beating the same old track of paddy growing which gives 25,000 rupees benefit per acre but if the farmers go for dragon fruit or strawberry cultivation, the profit margin is in lakhs.
She talked about the FPO (farmer producer organisation) narrating how Didis in Gumla district are augmenting their income by doing egg marketing.
Also Read- Jharkhand MP Nishikant Dubey’s ‘Ailcha, Belcha, Chamcha’ jibe at Rahul Gandhi
The state Finance Minister raised the issue of effective and efficient surface water management citing rainfall data of Palamu which even in its 8OO mm rainfall struggles with drought while states like Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan make do with just 600 mm to 400 mm of rainfall.
Nilgai menace overlooked
Shilpi Neha Tirkey again missed to speak on the growing menace of Nilgais (blue bulls) here in the Palamu and Garhwa districts. Her officers here didn’t brief her about how much the farmers are in losses all because of the Nilgais.
The Krishi Mela here, third in a row was a divisional Krishi Mela where a tragic incident of a KGBAV woman employee dying by suicide in the campus of the KGBAV Paton block today saw the absence of the DC Shashi Ranjan in the proceedings of the Krishi Mela. It was the Finance Minister who told the reason for the absence of the DC Shashi Ranjan in the gathering today.
Shilpi raises doubts over BAU’s zonal research centre’s claims
Shilpi Neha Tirkey was very critical of the zonal research centre of the Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) at Chianki here saying it claims to have adopted seven villages but she said she is afraid this centre is making false claims.
State Finance Minister raised a very pertinent point that nearly 84,000 hectares of land remain untilled here which he said should have been reclaimed for agricultural purposes.
Also Read- ED arrests ex-NRHM staffer from Dhanbad Rs 9.39 crore scam case
Dairy sector challenges
Kishore spoke about poor milk consumption here saying it’s just 150 mg per person.
Here the gathering had expected Shilpi Neha Tirkey to speak about the Medha dairy project at Gankey in Chianki in Daltonganj which is nowhere in the market as the popular brand Ashirvad has brutally eclipsed this Medha milk.
Sources said Shilpi Neha Tirkey was not properly briefed by her officers here while Kishore a native of Daltonganj knows Palamu by its pulse and heartbeat.
There was some commonness between the two ministers Kishore and Shilpi. The two were of the firm opinion that the prosperity of farmers is the indicator of the prosperity of the society.
DDC Shabbir Ahmad played the second in command of the Mela quite well. There arose a situation when the Palamu district Congress president Jayesh Ranjan Pathak alias Bittu Pathak was ‘overlooked’ by the host, the district agriculture office.
Call for agricultural and irrigation reforms
In a big departure Finance Minister asked for a coalescing of two departments agriculture and irrigation together as agriculture is severely dependent on irrigation. The Agriculture Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey maintained a non-committal approach.
Again there was a poor participation of farmers in this Krishi Mela from Latehar prompting the Finance Minister to ask the Latehar district agriculture officer as to how this happened.
Also Read- Jharkhand News: Son of slain liquor mafia injured in gunshot attack in Jamshedpur
