Under the guidance of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the Pusa Decomposer developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) for efficient management of paddy stubble with the aim of better and optimum utilization by the farmers was held in Pusa, Delhi today. The workshop was organized under the leadership of Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, in which hundreds of farmers were present and thousands of farmers also joined virtually through 60 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).
The technology of decomposer has been transferred by Pusa Institute to other companies including UPL, through which it is being produced and made available to the farmers. Through these, the use and demonstration of Pusa Decomposer in the last 3 years have been done in Uttar Pradesh in 26 lakh acres, 5 lakh acres in Punjab, 3.5 lakh acres in Haryana and 10 thousand acres in Delhi, which have yielded very good results. This decomposer is cheap and easily available across the country.
In the workshop, Union Minister Shri Tomar said that proper management of paddy stubble is the collective responsibility of all to prevent pollution. He said, concerned State Governments- Punjab, Haryana, U.P. and Delhi were provided more than Rs 3 thousand crore for stubble management by the Centre. Punjab was allocated the maximum fund of about Rs 1450 crores, while Haryana got Rs 900 crores, UP Rs 713 crores and 6 Crore rupees to Delhi. Out of this, about one thousand crore rupees are left with the states including Rs 491 crore with Punjab alone.
Shri Tomar said, a comprehensive solution to this problem is possible with optimum utilization of 2.07 lakh machines made available to the states for stubble management with the assistance provided by the Centre. Also, if the Pusa Decomposer developed by the Pusa Institute is used, the fertility of the cultivable land will also increase along with the solving the problem.
Shri Tomar said that more important than political discussion on paddy straw is to discuss its management and how to get rid of it. He said, the problem of stubble burning is serious and on this issue levelling allegations and counter allegations are not justified. Be it the Central or State governments or farmers, everyone has the same objective that agriculture should flourish in the country and there is prosperity for farmers. The Minister added that burning of stubble causes harm to the environment as well as the people and therefore a way should be found to deal with it and follow that path. With this, the soil will not only be safe, pollution will also be reduced and the farmers will be benefitted a lot, Shri Tomar added.
In the workshop, some farmers from these states, who used Pusa Decomposer, shared their positive experiences, while the licensee also shared the benefits of Pusa Decomposer with the farmers. Union Agriculture Secretary Shri Manoj Ahuja, DDG (NRM) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Dr. S.K. Chaudhary, Director, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh also addressed the workshop. Shri Tomar and the farmers who came to Pusa, while visiting the field, saw the live performance of the Pusa decomposer and inquired about the stalls.
The Central Government is serious about stubble management and several meetings have been held with all the stakeholders in this regard. On 19th October, in the presence of Union Minister Shri Tomar, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Shri Bhupendra Yadav and Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Minister Shri Parshottam Rupala, discussions were held with the concerned state governments and necessary guidelines were issued in this regard. Earlier on September 21, a meeting was held with the states under the chairmanship of Shri Tomar. Several meetings were held at the level of Agriculture Secretary and Joint Secretary also and suitable advice and instructions had been given to the states. Today’s workshop is a part of this series, in which Shri Tomar called upon the state governments, farmers, agricultural scientists to work together for stubble management.
Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti held Technical Session on “Rural WASH Partnerships – the way forward’ on the second day of the 7th India Water Week. The focus of the session, chaired by Minister of Jal Shakti, was on how the partnerships with academia, WASH experts and other partners can be harnessed to achieve the targets of the two flagship programs of DDWS – Jal Jeevan Mission and the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen phase-II. Union Minister also launched the toolkit for Swachh Survekshan Grameen (SSG) 2023 and the web portal for the ‘Twinpit to Retrofit Abhiyan’ at the session.
An important initiative under Swachh Bharat Mission is the Swachh Survekshan Grameen (SSG). DDWS has been conducting SSG since 2018 onwards to rank the States and Districts on the basis of their performance attained on key quantitative and qualitative Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) (SBM(G)) parameters and engaging rural community in improvement of their sanitation status through an intensive and holistic IEC campaign. The previous experiences have been that SSG provided impetus to the results achievement by States, which reflected in improvements of program indicators during the SSG period. In similar spirit, to encourage States, Districts and Panchayats, DDWS intends to undertake SSG 2023, which envisages to further significantly intensify the SSG campaign, and make it much more participative and competitive. The Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2023 Toolkit comprises information on various stages of assessment, baseline rankings of the Panchayats and Districts based on their ODF Plus progress as reported on SBM-G Integrated Management Information System (IMIS).
Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS) held Technical Session on “Rural WASH Partnerships
The objective of the campaign is promoting simple on-site technologies through retrofitting the existing single pit toilets into twin pit toilets
The event also had sessions on various program elements of JJM and SBM(G) phase-II
SBM(G) activity, targeting sustaining the ODF status, is ‘Retrofit to Twinpit Campaign’ which was launched on Swachh Bharat Diwas in October this year
DDWS puts up 20 stalls at IWW-2022 focusing on state-of-the-art WASH technologies, innovations and solutions
Applauding the efforts of SBM(G) team, Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, “SSG is not just a ranking exercise but also a vehicle for creating Jan Andolan and ensuring prompt action for achievement of SBM(G) 2.0 programme elements.” Union Minister also highlighted the fact that self-assessment by Panchayats on ODF Plus progress for all its villages, as part of SSG 2023 will not only enhance participation from community/panchayats but at the same time also act as a tool to build capacities of Panchayats on ODF Plus verticals.
Another SBM(G) activity, targeting sustaining the ODF status, is the ‘Retrofit to Twin-pit Campaign’ which was launched on Swachh Bharat Diwas in October this year by Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. The objective of the campaign is promoting simple on-site technologies through retrofitting the existing single pit toilets into twin pit toilets. It also aims to generate awareness about the safe disposal of faecal sludge in rural households. Speaking about the next phase of the campaign, Union Minster said “I am very happy to launch the web module of the campaign, which will be utilized for updating baseline data of States/Districts and the achievements of the States/ UTs in this campaign would be assessed based on the progress reported in the module starting 19th November 2022 up to 26th January 2023.” The Minister also urged all the partners gathered at the forum, to support the states in achieving the objectives of both SSG 2023 and the Retrofit to Twin pit Campaigns.
The event also had sessions on various program elements of JJM and SBM(G) phase-II. Four sessions were held by JJM Professor Chairs viz. ‘Sustainability of drinking water sources’ by Prof. Pradip Kumar Tewari, IIT-Jodhpur, ‘Utility development & water economics’ by Prof. Gopal Naik, IIM-Bengaluru, ‘IT and Data Science for service delivery’ by Prof. Amit Mitra, IIT-Kanpur and ‘Decentralized governance for water and sanitation services’ by Prof. Amita Bhide, TISS-Mumbai. This was followed by three sessions by the WASH Experts viz. ‘Faecal Sludge Management’ by Sh. Sasanka Velidandla from WASH institute, ‘Greywater Management’ by Sh. V. K. Madhavan from WaterAid India and ‘Water Quality’ by Dr. Sundarrajan Krishnan from INREM Foundation.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Vini Mahajan, Secretary-DDWS commended the contributions of all the Rural WASH partners to both JJM and SBM(G), “I thank you all for your feedback and expert inputs you bring to DDWS programs and I hope this enriching partnerships help our states and UTS in achieving the JJM and SBM targets”. Secretary also added that though the WASH targets of the country are ambitious, the efforts to achieve them are backed by strong political will, adequate funding and the partnerships among all stakeholders especially the Rural WASH Partners.
The India Water Week is an annual activity of Ministry of Jal Shakti and this year, the 7th Water Week has been inaugurated on 01/11/2022 at the India Expo Centre in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh by the President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, amidst the august presence of Governor Uttar Pradesh, Smt. Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Ministers of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and Shri Bishweswar Tudu.
DDWS has put up 20 stalls at the IWW-2022 focusing on state-of-the-art WASH technologies, innovations and solutions. While the experts at the sessions share their rich experiences in the field of water management, the exhibition supports technologies for sustainable development for WASH. Other countries participating in the weeklong event are Finland, Germany, Israel and European Union. People who are working in WASH sector must attend the conference and visit the DDWS exhibition at Hall No 6, to understand the intricacies, policy interventions, programme implementation and way forward for WASH in the country.
माननीय जल शक्ति मंत्री, श्री @gssjodhpur ने इंडिया एक्सपो सेंटर और मार्ट, ग्रेटर नोएडा में सातवें भारत जल सप्ताह के दौरान रेट्रोफिटिंग मॉड्यूल का शुभारंभ किया।#retrofittotwinpit #ODFPlus #SwachhBharatMission #SBMG #IndiaWaterWeek@mahajan_vini @MoJSDDWS pic.twitter.com/aBIGyIQW5K
— Swachh Bharat I #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav (@swachhbharat) November 2, 2022
Union Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Addressing the Session
Union Minister of Jal Shakti Launches the ‘Retrofitting Module’
Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman attended the 7th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) via video conference from New Delhi today.
Every year at the Annual Meeting, the Board of Governors meets to take key decisions on important matters relating to AIIB, and its future vision. India is a Founding Member and the second largest shareholder in AIIB. India also has the largest project portfolio within AIIB. The theme of this year’s Annual Meeting was “Sustainable Infrastructure Toward a Connected World”.
The Finance Minister shared her thoughts in the Governor’s Roundtable Discussion on the theme “Financing Infrastructure in a Crisis-Prone World”. In her intervention, the Finance Minister appreciated AIIB for its continued commitment and dedication to assist members and for providing high-quality development finance. Smt. Sitharaman stated that, despite exogenous threats, India’s well-targeted policy mix, accompanied by major structural reforms and sound external balance sheet, have aided its growth to remain resilient. The Finance Minister emphasized that India has embarked on the path of a self-reliant economy and therefore has been successful in mitigating the negative effects of the pandemic. Smt. Sitharaman underscored the remarkable progress India has made through its Digitalization Mission, utilizing technology to facilitate social protection and boost financial inclusion. The Finance Minister also highlighted that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is actively leading India’s climate change response efforts through various programs such as ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ (or LiFE), among many others.
The Finance Minister suggested that in order to ensure meaningful impact is achieved and resources are not scattered in multiple areas, AIIB needs to scale-up investments in key priority areas including clean energy and energy efficiency, disaster resilient infrastructure, social infrastructure with a special focus on education and health, and digital infrastructure.
As public resources alone are insufficient to meet vast infrastructure needs of members, the Finance Minister advised that the Bank should not only play a catalytic role in mobilizing diverse private sector resources but also explore mechanisms to augment its own resources, including through early action on the recommendations of G20’s Expert Panel’s Report on the MDB’s Capital Adequacy Framework (CAF).
Moreover, the Finance Minister pointed out that beyond its financial support, AIIB should work towards expanding the scope of its mid-stream and upstream engagement activities such as increased technical assistance to help clients translate strategies into investment plans. Finally, Smt. Sitharaman suggested that the Bank should set-up full-fledged country offices in member locations.
In conclusion, the Finance Minister assured AIIB of India’s continued collaboration in achieving its mandated mission.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that the new voters will define India @2047, and with the active young years on their side, they have the privilege and opportunity to contribute to the making of Century India, as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing the new and young voters at Moradabad, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Uttar Pradesh is home to about 55 million young men and women who are in the 18-30 age group, which is approximately 37 % of the total voters in the State.
Dr Jitendra Singh told the youth that a few days ago, Prime Minister Modi launched Rozgar Mela – the recruitment drive for 10 lakh personnel and during the ceremony, appointment letters were handed over to 75,000 newly inducted appointees. He said, in near future, the target of 10 lakh government jobs will be completed in a mission mode.
The Minister, also appealed to the youth to strive for other means of livelihood through lucrative StartUp ventures and innovative entrepreneurship, as it is next to impossible for any country to provide government jobs to all.
Referring to Prime Minister’s focus on the most job-intensive sectors like agriculture, private sector and MSME, Dr Jitendra Singh said, today, under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, a huge campaign is going on to train the youth according to the needs of the industries of the country and added that 1.25 crore young people have been trained so far all over the country.
Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that initiatives like liberalising drone policy, opening up space policy, and 20 Lakh crore rupees worth of loans under Mudra Yojana have opened new opportunities for the youth.
Referring to Prime Minister’s continued focus on youth power since 2014, Dr Jitendra Singh said, on August 15, 2017, in his Independence Day speech, Mr. Modi said, “January 1, 2018 will not be an ordinary day – those born in this century will start turning 18. For these people, this is a decisive year of their lives. They are going to be the creator of the destiny (Bhagya Vidhata) of our nation in the 21st century. I heartily welcome all these youth, honour them and offer my respects to them. You have an opportunity to shape the destiny of our country. A proud nation invites you to become a part of its developmental journey”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the 2019 polls, 133 million young adults got the opportunity to vote and of them 70 million were young men and 63 million young women and over 72 percent of them were living in India’s villages. The Minister said, this number may touch 140 million by 2024, and this is India’s demographic dividend that should not be allowed to go waste.
Dr Jitendra Singh reminded the youth and also the administration that the Election Commission of India in July this year announced that those above the age of 17 years can now apply in advance to get enrolled in the voters’ list and not wait until the voting age of 18 years.
The Commission has directed the chief electoral officers and electoral registration officers of all states to work out tech-based solutions to enable the youth to file their advance applications concerning three subsequent qualifying dates – April 1, July 1 and October 1, and not only just January 1. The Minister said, the move will boost EC’s efforts to enrol new young voters who turn 18 in a year, for which an amendment was recently made to allow quarterly registration of voters.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Central government and the UP Government are jointly planning to hold ‘Yuva Vijay Sankalp Rally’ in all the nooks and corners of the state to make the youth aware of the developmental initiatives and achievements of the “Double Engine Sarkar”.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Science and Technology, MoS PMO, Space and Atomic Energy, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that the ‘Purple Revolution’ originating from Jammu & Kashmir offers attractive StartUp avenues and those who have entered the lavender sector are making a fortune out of it ,but what is required is a wider publicity and awareness about these new opportunities of livelihood rolled out in recent years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The pace of innovation in India has assumed global scale, but the change of mindset also needs to be encouraged at the same pace, he said.
Addressing a Conference on “Sustainable Agricultural Innovations for Resilient Agri-Food Systems” at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) here , Dr Jitendra Singh enumerated a series of pro-agriculture reforms introduced by the Modi government and said several pathbreaking decisions like new guidelines for geospatial technology and relaxation in the regulations for developing Drone are also enabling provisions for today’s agriculture entrepreneurs and agri-startups.
The Minister also noted that this government had brought in an amendment in the hundred-year-old Indian Forest Act which was enacted by the British government and following this amendment, the home-grown Bamboo has been exempted from the Forest Act so that the youth could use the versatile properties of Bamboo for agriculture entrepreneurship as well as in other sectors. He said, even in our immediate neighbourhood there are huge reserves of bamboo in districts like Kathua and Reasi but these were never adequately explored.
Referring to the theme of the Conference i.e. “Sustainable Agricultural Innovations for Resilient Agri-Food Systems” Dr Jitendra Singh said sustainable innovations are the prerequisites for sustainable StartUps and sustainable means of livelihood. To achieve this, he emphasised the importance of linking with industry right from the beginning and making industry an equal stakeholder so that the research projects are determined by the requirements of the industry.
In the next 25 years of Amrti Kal, said Dr Jitendra Singh, Jammu & Kashmir and several hill territories as well as the Himalayan States are going to make a significant value edition to build India’s future economy because these are the territories whose resources have remain under-utilised in the past. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving a focussed attention to these areas, they are going to play a pivotal role in placing India on the world pedestal by 2047, he said.
Dwelling on the theme of the conference, Dr Jitendra Singh said, agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end economic constraints, boost shared prosperity and feed a projected 9.7 billion people by 2050. He said, healthy, sustainable and inclusive food systems are critical to achieve the world’s development goals. The Minister, however, emphasised the need to address the climate related issues to avoid their adverse effect on agriculture sector.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, agriculture, forestry, and land use change are responsible for about 25% of greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation in the agriculture sector is part of the solution to climate change. He said, the world faces a dilemma, whether to stay with those innovations that were successful in yields but risk catastrophic climate change, endangering those yields or to continue with innovations in agricultural technology so that we don’t suffer those risks from climate change.
Dr Jitendra Singh also gave example of the Green Revolution, where the yield really did go up and that is a benefit but second those benefits came with serious downside and in some cases economic development was very uneven and people ended up worse off than they were before. In other cases, we had serious agricultural pollution from the agro-chemicals and pests become resistant to pesticides which risks continuing those high yields, the Minister added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the areas which will ensure sustainability of agriculture are genetic innovations for climate-resilient agri-food systems, pest management innovations, biodiversity conservation, carbon neutrality and reducing use of fossil fuels in agriculture. He said, the agricultural innovations to enhance food security and productivity in a sustainable manner, climate resilient food solutions, restoration of natural resources, future of farming, agricultural sensors, farming drones, and public health and food safety are important issues concerning the agriculture world over including India.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, policy makers and agricultural scientists in India are working hard on improving livelihoods and creating more and better jobs, including for women and youth, improving food security for all, including access to safe and nutritious food and making agriculture and food more sustainable and more climate-smart, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In his concluding remarks, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Agriculture has changed dramatically in the 20th Century as food and fibre productivity has soared due to new technologies, mechanisation, increased chemical use, specialisation, and government policies that favoured maximising production and reducing food prices. But, the challenges of 21st Century ranging from climate changes to pest attacks and conflicts could pose a threat. The Minister said, “I am convinced that agricultural scientists are capable enough to help India lead the way”.
PGHK.jpg)
O3HA.jpg)
