NE NEWS SERVICE
AMARAVATI, JUNE 1
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the officials to prepare guidelines for e-cropping, including crop planning, and e-marketing requirements of farmers taking Rythu Bharosa Kendra (RBK) as a unit for each agriculture season.
During a review meeting on e-cropping and e-marketing held here on Monday, the Chief Minister said, the mapping of crops under each RBK should be done and Advisory Boards at District and Mandal level should be formed to help in preparing the crop plan to ensure balanced output without glut of any product.
The e-cropping should be more comprehensive and must carry the details of the crop each farmer is sowing in the season and the details should be displayed at RBKs and Village Secretariats. The seeds should be made available as per the crop plan.
An e-platform should also be created for the sale of agriculture produce and government will directly buy 30 per cent of the produce from the farmers and the e-marketing will ensure the sale of the remaining produce.
Grading and packing facilities should be provided at village level and quality standards should be adhered to for better movement of the product, he said. For e-marketing to be successful, quality of agriculture product, timely payment to farmers and transportation are the main parameters and serious thought should be given to them, he said.
The Chief Minister said that grading and packing facilities should be available in all the 10, 641 RBKs by this khariff season and this would help for the intake of Janata Bazaars that would come up in future. In the coming days, work on godowns and cold storages should begin and necessary permissions should be acquired. He asked the officials to submit an action plan to this effect.
The meeting was attended by State Agriculture Vice Chairman MVS Nagi Reddy, Chief Advisor to Chief Minister Ajay Kalam.
Pension disbursed at the doorstep of beneficiaries
For the fourth month in a row, third in lockdown, pensions were distributed at the doorstep of beneficiaries by the impeccable delivery system of village and ward volunteers.
Braving scorching heat and the corona pandemic 2,37,615 village/ward volunteers completed the commitment of State government by distributing pensions at the doorstep of beneficiaries on the first day of the month.
By 4.30 pm, about 54.88 lakh beneficiaries have received the pension totaling it to 94.75 percent. Under YSR Pension Kanuka on Friday, as many as 58.22 lakh are going to be benefited , while the state government is spending Rs 1421.20 crores towards the initiative. Amidst COVID-19, officials have started using geo tagging technology replacing the biometric for safe distribution.
To prevent the virus spread, the volunteers have used photo identification method instead of biometric system and a separate app was used to capture the beneficiary picture through geotagging. The volunteers have taken strict measures while distributing the pensions.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been firm on his promises and proved that the YSRCP government would not compromise in delivering welfare schemes to the public even at these tough times. The old-age pensioners, physically handicapped are facing difficulties due to lockdown and now, providing them the pensions at their doorsteps has built confidence among them by the concern shown.
The government officials are motoring the distribution of pensions to every beneficiary and asserted that everyone will receive the pension and need not worry about it. While the pension distribution is a monthly exercise for volunteers, their work at this point in time during corona is adorable. Volunteers are also creating awareness among the pensioners to stay safe at home and checking over them for the virus symptoms.
