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G Kaito Aye speaks at the meeting of the Agriculture department that was conducted in the directorate of Agriculture, on July 25 in Kohima.[/caption]
Dimapur, July 25 (EMN): The minister for Agriculture & Cooperation G Kaito Aye has urged officials and personnel of the department to be disciplined and to work toward being ‘farmer-friendly.’
The minister was speaking at a meeting that was conducted in the directorate of Agriculture on July 25 in Kohima.
In his address to government officials at the meeting, he said that the department itself was for the people of Nagaland and that the benefit should reach all the people of the state.
The government publicity agency, the department of Information and Public Relations (IPR), issued updates on Thursday informing about the programme.
According to the minister, the government of India was focusing mainly on the agriculture sector. For this reason, the Agriculture department should implement different programmes, schemes and use it efficiently.
Aye assured that ‘privileges will not be denied to anyone.’ He said to visit all the districts and subdivisions and interact with the villages to address their grievances. He urged the districts and sub divisions to highlight their ‘actual activities and achievements.’
Further, Aye said ‘women participation cannot be denied.’ Members of self help groups should be promoted and encouraged more, the IPR reported him as having said at the meeting.
The minister urged government employees to discipline themselves ‘so that the system should not be disturbed by the loopholes’ when it came to coordination among the departments.
Because all the facilities are being provided by the government one should realize their duties and responsibilities assigned to them and rededicate actively to their works, the minister asserted. He encouraged the officers and field staffs to be “farmer friendly and get acquainted with the environment.” If there should be any grievances, he said, they should be resolved promptly.
‘The targets of the department should be translated into reality and not only by highlighting in papers and presentations.’ The officials of the department were told to speed up the system and do work timely because most of the schemes and projects are time bound, the IPR reported.
Further, the IPR stated from the minister’s address, ‘facts should reflect in the annual administrative report. Aye was stated to have advised the department to be transparent and flexible.
Also, he assured that the agriculture and allied departments will have a joint meeting soon to promote the ‘line departments’ and to create better working partnerships.
The agriculture production commissioner and principal secretary for Agriculture, N Hushili Sema, also spoke at the event. In her short speech, Sema was reported by the IPR has having said that ‘If the farmer prospers, then people will prosper.’ The official urged the officers to cooperate and dedicate to their responsibilities.
Further, the officer urged the department’s personnel to be transparent in all the works and to pursue the targets at the right time so better results can be had, the IPR reported.
‘She challenged the department to intervene and attract the youths by changing their mindset to create more self employment by motivating them in agriculture sector as well as other avenues. She also advised the department to facilitate more gender friendly equipments to encourage both men and women for generating self employment,’ the IPR explained.
The additional director for Agriculture, C Peter Yanthan gave a detailed presentation on the achievement and structures of the department. He mentioned that agriculture is the mainstay of the state’s economy.
‘More than 80% of the population is rural based and its economy depends on agriculture in all its form. Traditionally, all the tribes practice shifting cultivation,’ the IPR reported.
Yanthan explained that the vision of the department is “a feasible agriculture in Nagaland and economically viable by 2025” (sic). The goals of the department, according to the IPR’s report, are to improve crop production and productivity through effective transfer and adoption of appropriate technologies.
Likewise, it seeks to improve farm income and quality of life by empowering the farming community; change agriculture and farming in Nagaland into a lucrative enterprise and generate more employment; achieve food for all and food security by 2025, and to promote the food processing units, the IPR stated.
Yanthan also emphasised on the strategies taken by the department like improvement of ‘jhum’ farming to increase the fallow period for ecological balance; promotion of organic farming on crop zone basis; encouraging indigenous practices for sustainability, and integrated farming systems.
The official highlighted centrally sponsored schemes during the event, the IPR added.