Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha inaugurated the state’s first all-women manned Tepania Agriculture Sub-Divisional Office at Tepania Colony High School premises on Wednesday,. He said that Tripura currently has 33 percent reservation of seats for women in government jobs. Keeping in mind the safety of women, the state government has launched 109 helpline. From now on, girls will be able to study for free in all general degree colleges in the state. It has been decided to install 400 CCTV cameras in Agartala city to ensure security of women. Already 150 CCTV cameras have been installed.
Chief Minister said that India is an agricultural country. Farmers are the backbone of the country. Most of the people in India are associated with agriculture. Therefore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been working on a multi-pronged plan to improve the quality of the country’s agricultural system. He said that in Tripura state also most of the people are associated with agriculture. In 2015-16, the income of Tripura farmers was Rs 6,580. Currently it has increased to 11,096 rupees. He said that about 8 lakh farmers of the state have been brought under the Fasal Bima Yojana. At present paddy is being procured from the farmers of the state at minimum support price and 28 Krishak Bandhu Kendras are functioning in the state. He said, with the aim of increasing cultivation of horticultural crops including pineapple, banana, mango, etc., a target of bringing 8,083 hectares of land under horticultural cultivation has been set. Through this 76 thousand farmers will benefit financially.
Pineapple is now being exported outside India to countries like Dubai, Qatar etc. It has earned revenue of about 11 crore 67 lakh rupees so far. He also said that the delicious jackfruit of the state is being exported to countries like England, Germany and Dubai. Chief Minister said that three cold storages have been set up to ensure that the produce of the farmers, especially vegetables, does not get spoiled. There are plans to set up 10 more cold storages.
At the programme, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said this is the 38th agricultural sub-division of Tripura. Work is going on to increase self-reliance, self-esteem, status of women in agriculture sector in the state. Tribal Welfare Minister, Rampada Jamatia said that farmers are food provider. So Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched PM Kisan scheme to help farmers. Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Apurba Roy delivered the welcome speech at the programme. Vote of thanks was delivered by Director of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Saradindu Das.
Sabhadhipati of Gomati Zilla Parishad Swapan Adhikari, Gomati District Magistrate Ravel Hamendra Kumar, Udaipur Municipal Council Chairperson, Shital Chandra Majumder, Tepania Panchayat Samiti Chairperson, Jharna Rani Das, Superintendent of Police Shashvat Kumar, Social worker, Ratan Ghosh, Abhishek Debroy, Prabir Das and others were present at the programme. Rupees 25 lakhs have been spent on the construction of Tepania Agricultural Sub-division office building.
