Captain Amarinder expresses confidence of Congress victory in upcoming bypolls
Ludhiana, September 21, 201: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday expressed the confidence that the Congress Party would easily win all the four by-polls, slated to be held on October 21.
Talking informally with media persons after inaugurating a 2-day Kisan Mela being organised in PAU and Pashu Palan Mela at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University here, Captain Amarinder said the party was fully geared to contest the upcoming by-elections, at the back of the government’s progressive and welfare programmes and schemes.
The people of Punjab would once again put their seal of electoral approval on the Congress, which had proved in the last two and a half years of governance in the state that it was the only party equipped to ensure the development of Punjab. As in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the people of the state would once again reject the regressive and divisive politics of the opposition parties, he added.
Responding to a question regarding imposition of 20 USD by Pakistan on pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib, Captain Amarinder said that he had already urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get this Jaziya abolished to ensure khulle Darshan Didar. The Kartarpur Corridor, which was being constructed at a fast pace on the Indian side, was aimed at providing easy darshan to the devotees of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, which Pakistan should respect, he added.
Earlier, the Chief Minister appealed to the farmers not to resort to paddy stubble burning, as a mark of respect for the historic 550th Prakash Purb of the first Sikh Guru. The Happy Seeding machines being distributed by his government would not only help in stubble management but also ensure increased productivity for the farmers, he added.
Notably, the theme of Kisan Mela has been aptly chosen from the sacred Bani of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji ‘Pawan Guru pani pita mata dharat mahatt’, which coincides with first Sikh Guru’s 550th Prakash Purb celebrations.
Captain Amarinder said the burning of paddy stubble was posing a major environmental threat, besides damaging the texture of soil and human health. The Chief Minister called upon the farmers to take full advantage of subsidised straw management machinery, which was being provided on 50-80 percent subsidy. Captain Amarinder Singh said that the State Government had provided 28600 implements to farmers worth Rs 269.38 crores during 2018-19 and an amount of Rs 273.80 crores would be incurred for about 28000 implements for the management of paddy straw during current year 2019-20.
Captain Amarinder also announced that the State Government would develop a Sugarcane Research and Training Institute at Gurdaspur, besides establishing an Agricultural Market Innovation Research and Intelligence Center at Mohali.
The Centre would provide necessary support and assistance to farmers in marketing of their diversified crops, said the Chief Minister, while inaugurating the 2-day Kisan Mela and Pashu Palan Mela in Punjab Agriculture University here. Addressing the farmers gathered here, Captain Amarinder emphasized the need to switch to crop diversification to conserve the depleting ground water. He announced that the State had already developed a diversification plan to shift nearly 10 lakh hectares from rice to alternate, less water intensive crops.
Listing the initiatives for crop diversification, Captain Amarinder said a state-of-the-art Indian Institute of Maize Research was being set up at Ladhowal, while a Postgraduate Institute of Horticulture Research & Education was coming up at Amritsar. With the concerted efforts of the state government to sensitise farmers about alternative crops, the area under maize, basmati and cotton had registered a considerable increase during the current season.
Water-saving technologies, such as drip irrigation, were being popularized through 80-90% subsidy in the state, besides introduction of Direct Benefit Transfer for Electricity scheme to directly compensate farmers who save electricity and thereby groundwater, he added.
The Chief Minister further said that policies for promotion of Farmer Producer Organization for agricultural produce aggregation and collective marketing were being formulated to provide necessary marketing support to the farmers to make them economically viable. The Punjab State Council for Agricultural Education Act, 2017, has also been enacted to ensure quality agricultural education, he added. The Chief Minister pointed out that quality inputs and strict monitoring for management of whitefly had helped in reviving the cotton crop and record yields had been obtained in the last three years. He said that the state had ensured stringent measures promoting the use of safer pesticides, which helped lower residue levels in food commodities.
Captain Amarinder appreciated the efforts of Punjab Agricultural University, which received ICAR Best Institution Award (‘Sardar Patel Outstanding ICAR Institution’ Award, 2012-2017) for research and extension activities for the second time in March 2019, for revolutionising the agriculture scenario in the state. The Chief Minister visited exhibitions setup by PAU and GADVASU at the mela sites. On the occasion, the Chief Minister also honoured progressive farmers Dalip Singh with Ujagar Singh Dhaliwal Award, Jagtar Singh with Pravasi Bharti Purskar, Rubash Singh Jakhar with Dalip Singh Dhaliwal, Parmjit Kaur with Jagbir Kaur Memorial Award besides awarding the Panchayat of village Haripur of Mehatpur block district Jalandhar with Bhai Babu Singh Brar Sarvotam Pond Award.
Meanwhile, Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa appreciated the efforts of PAU to sensitize farmers about new agri-techniques, different varieties of seeds and steps to be taken time to time for enhanced yield of crops etc through Kisan Melas. He urged the Chief Minister to mount pressure on Government of India to review its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement in the larger interest of country's millions of milk producers. The Minister also urged the Chief Minister to make the proposed Sugar Cane Research and Training Centre at Kalanaur and Agriculture College time-bound projects in view of the 550th Prakash Purb celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The Minister also requested the Chief Minister to sanction ample funds for research purposes to PAU to accelerate the pace of research works by the University.
In his welcome address, Vice Chancellor PAU B.S. Dhillon exhorted the farmers to adopt allied farming to supplement their income. He said that PAU was prioritising to introduce appropriate machinery to further promote cultivation of vegetable in the state, which would further strengthen the farming sector. He urged the farmers to take full advantage of various media platforms launched by PAU, including missed call facility, PAU App etc. Prominent amongst those present on the occasion were Member Parliament Ravneet Singh Bittu, MLAs Amrik Singh Dhillon, Kuldeep Singh Vaid, Sanjeev Talwar and Lakhbir Singh Lakha, Chairman PSIDC K.K. Bawa, Chairman PMIDC Amarjit Sigh Tikka, Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh and Additional Chief Secretary Development Viswajeet Khanna, Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal and Commissioner of Police Rakesh Kumar Agrawal.
Related Report:
“Punjab will become a desert in the years to come if you don’t save water,” said Captain Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, while addressing the farmers at the inauguration of the two-day Kisan Mela at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today. Tracing the history of food shortage after partition to attaining self-sufficiency in food grains later, the Chief Minister lauded PAU for its remarkable research in the development/recommendation of PV 18 and Lerma Rojo (wheat) and IR 8 (rice) that heralded Green Revolution. Further, he expressed concern over declining water table and promoted crop diversification among farmers. The Chief Guest Captain Amarinder Singh stated, “We need new crops as well as new irrigation technologies to tackle these problems.” “What are we going to leave for our future generations? Think of the future of Punjab. With shrinking land holdings and depleting water resources, use drip irrigation to save water, and stop burning paddy straw, instead use Happy Seeder to manage it,” he advised the farmers. The people of Delhi are not ready to stay in Delhi because of rising pollution, he observed, while asking the farmers not to spoil the environment of Punjab by burning paddy straw. Punjab government is committed to promoting vegetable industry and Kinnow marketing in the State at Amritsar, Halwara, Adampur, Bathinda and Chandigarh, he added. “With agriculture and industry flourishing, save future of Punjab,” he said to the farmers. Captain Amarinder Singh also called upon the farmers to visit Sultanpur Lodhi, Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur Corridor to celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
The guest of honour Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Minister of Jails and Cooperation, Punjab, hailed the mammoth gathering of farmers at PAU Kisan Mela. “Milk adulteration and drug addiction are the growing concerns for Punjab,” he said, while impressing upon the farmers not to adulterate milk and not to make their sons drug addicts. “Punjab has always been the ‘anndata’ (food bowl) and today there is a dire need to save Punjab’s Kisani (farming) and Jawani (youngsters),” he stated. Diversification calls for the attention and for this, we need assured marketing, he stressed. Sardar Randhawa called upon the State government to render fiscal support to PAU for research as from here “Hara Inquilab” (Green Revolution) ushered in. “It is only PAU which can save Punjab’s agriculture,” he remarked.
In his welcome address, Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said the two-day mela celebrates the 550th birth anniversary of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who in his teachings had said: “Pawan Guru Panni Pita Mata Dharat Mahat.” This theme of mela coveys a special message to farmers to use air, water and soil wisely, he added. Dr Dhillon disclosed, “Despite challenges, pesticide consumption has come down and record yield has been obtained during the last year. In addition, whitefly in cotton and paddy straw have been managed successfully in the State. This has been possible because of the collective efforts of the State government, State Department of Agriculture, farmers of Punjab and PAU.” Informing about the newly released varieties, Dr Dhillon said University is focusing on precision farming, agro-processing and value addition, marketing and export, and kitchen garden concept.
Dr JS Mahal, Director of Extension Education, PAU, while proposing the vote of thanks, said; “Farmers are the shaan (pride) of this mela.”
Four progressive farmers were honoured on the occasion. Rubash Singh Jakhar of village Patrewala, district Fazilka, and Jagtar Singh Saran of village Mandi Khurd, district Bathinda, were conferred with “S. Dalip Singh Dhaliwal Memorial Award” and “Parvasi Bharti Award,” respectively. Dalip Singh of village Kote Ramsar, district Faridkot, was awarded “S. Ujagar Singh Dhaliwal Memorial Award” whereas Paramjit Kaur of village Ajitwal, district Moga, was conferred with “Sardarni Jagbir Kaur Grewal Memorial Award.”
Apart from this, four scientists Dr JS Mahal, Director of Extension Education, PAU; Dr Gurjit Singh Mangat, Senior Rice Breeder; Dr SK Kheri, Director, State Department of Agriculture; and Dr Rajbir Singh Brar, Director, IACR-ATARI, Ludhiana, were honoured at the mela. The village Haripur, block Mahitpur, district Jalandhar, was conferred with “Bhai Babu Singh Brar Best Pond Award” while village Todarpur of district Hoshiarpur was awarded “Best Village Award.”
Later, Dr Dhillon honoured the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, and the State Minister of Jails and Cooperation Sardar Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa with shawls and mementos.
Farmers and farm women in large number thronged the mela and participated in live field demonstrations and technical session, purchased quality seed and farm literature, and participated in crop produce and home science competitions. The cultural programme also enthralled the audience during the mela.
DIVERSE STALLS AND INFORMATION AT COMMUNITY SCIENCE COLLEGE DURING KISAN MELA
Ludhiana, September 21, 2019: One of the most awaited farmer-centric event of North, the Kisan Mela, organized by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) took flight on September 21 in its Ludhiana campus. All the big and small names involved in the agricultural sector were part of this unification. While the companies attracted the farmers’ attention by displaying their high-tech and efficient products, the College of Community Science chipped in by informing farm women about dietary management of lifestyle diseases, nutritive value of packed lunch, food hygiene, sanitation, balanced diet for healthy living and drudgery reducing tools.
Explaining the motive, Dr Sandeep Bains, Dean of the College, said that the endeavour is to equip women with recent scientific information for dealing with real-life situations. The broad-based, culturally relevant knowledge in different areas of Community Science would aid to cope up with everyday problems effectively, she elaborated.
The various departments of the College gave demonstrations on how to make toys from waste, use of sprouted legumes for making burgers, baking value-added cakes, food wrapping in fabric and methods for water recharge for home use, etc. Competitions in knitting for women and in drawing for rural children aged 12 to 14 years were also held. The theme for drawing competition was “Save Mother Earth”. Farm women were registered and literature pertaining to them was provided.
The visitors were updated about games made from environment-friendly indigenous play material that were educative in nature and aided mental, physical, social and moral development of children. In Apparel and Textile also, the focus was on products made from eco-friendly natural dyes. Mulch mats made through fibre-extraction were displayed. To revive traditional fruits of Punjab like Shehtoot and Karonda, people were informed about their anti-oxidant properties while snack foods like bars made from fruits and flaxseed were promoted as an alternate to products made from refined flour, high sugar and fat.
Besides this, several stalls were put up by women entrepreneurs which served as a platform for understanding market demands and enhancing their confidence through direct marketing. It also provided an opportunity for networking among different entrepreneurs.
Products sold ranged from bakery products, pinnis, chocolates, spices, pickles, juices to handicrafts. The food stalls were a hit among the visiting farmers and rural women. Packed pulses and spices got an overwhelming response.