- Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura
Agartala, August 08, 2022 : Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Sunday in his address to the 7th Governing Council of Niti Aayog was held in New Delhi highlighted the the action plans and achievements in various fields of the state. He also gave special importance to administrative initiatives focused on agriculture, education, urban planning and civic amenities.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, members of the Governing Council of the Aayog and Chief Ministers of various states were also present.
Speaking about the initiatives of the state government in the field of agriculture, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha said “the state government has undertaken a three-year plan (2020-21 to 2022-23) for food security, nutritional security, soil quality improvement and socio-economic upliftment of farmers. Under this plan, 50,000 hectares of land will be diversified by planting maize and millet. That is why high quality seeds have been supplied to the farmers from NSC. Moreover, financial assistance of Rs 6,000 per hectare for cultivation of hybrid maize and Rs 9,000 per hectare for cultivation of mashkalai has been provided under Rashtriya Krishi Bikash Yojana and NFSM scheme. Besides, emphasis has been laid on use of new hybrids and high yielding seeds, cluster farming, irrigation facilities, processing facilities and skill enhancement of farmers.
The Chief Minister said that steering committee and implementation committee have been formed at the state level for the purpose of applying digital methods in agriculture. Specific operational principles have been laid down for developing the database of farmers. Now Land Records and Settlement Department is developing API for land database. The department has already started geo referencing of all villages. Farmers will be registered on a digital platform through a unique ID. It will provide farmer centric benefits to all the farmers in a digital way.
Emphasizing on self-reliance in the field of pulses, oilseeds and other agricultural crops, the Chief Minister said that currently 23,732 hectares of land is under pulse cultivation in the state which can meet only 24 percent of the total demand of the state. Similarly, the cultivation and production of oilseeds in the 15,165 hectare area of the state is capable of meeting only 10 percent of the state’s demand. The National Oil on Edible Oil-Palm Oil scheme has targeted 530 hectares of palm oil cultivation in the state in the financial year 2022-23. In this regard, an MoU regarding Viability Gap Payment has been signed with the Government of India for the convenience of farmers. Initiatives have been taken to increase productivity by using high yielding seeds, using appropriate fertilizers, improving soil quality, setting up custom hiring centers, providing credit facilities.
The Chief Minister said that after the formation of the present government in the state in 2018, emphasis has been placed on the overall development of students by providing quality education to train them in skills useful for the 21st century. This change in the education system has led to an improvement in Tripura’s Performance Grading Index (PGI). In 2017-18, Tripura’s PGI category was fifth grade. In 2019-20 it became first grade. The state government has launched Vidyalaya Chalo Abhiyan to bring the drop out students to school by August, 2022. Video lectures on different subjects of different classes are being broadcasted by Vande Tripura TV channel.
According to the New Education Policy (NEP), morning nutrition of children is being provided under the PM nutrition scheme. The State Government has accordingly launched this scheme in Dhalai Aspirational District. The State Government has taken all necessary measures for proper implementation of Nipun Bharat Scheme. 90 percent of primary level teachers have been trained in Foundational Literacy and Numeracy under Nishta 3.0. Preparatory scheme for schools ‘Vidya Setu’ has been developed. Moreover, a project called ‘Mission-100 Vidyajyoti’ has been launched to equip the existing 100 schools of the state with advanced facilities. The state government will invest Rs 500 crore in the next three years to create various opportunities including infrastructure development in these schools.
Likewise, in the field of higher education, initiatives have been taken to recruit UGC/AICTE trained/accredited teachers. NAAC/NBA Accreditation of Colleges/Educational Institutions has been initiated. Initiatives have also been taken to introduce choice based credit system, introduce new subjects in colleges, introduce skill development courses to expand employment opportunities of students. A National Law University is being set up in the state and a drone center is being set up at TIT at a cost of Rs 5 crore. 1 Incubation Center has been set up at Tripura University where two MSME projects are running. The College of Engineering is being developed as an innovation hub by the IT Department to encourage innovative projects. To improve women education, the state government is providing free education to girls up to post graduation. The state is on track to achieve 30 percent GER by 2030. The Chief Minister also said that GIS based property tax payment system is being implemented for the development of city centric administration which will be launched soon.
CM also said, special master plans are being prepared for 20 urban self-governing bodies. 17 out of 18 services in the urban area have been entrusted to municipality agencies. The state government has provided insurance up to Rs 3 lakh for small and medium shopkeepers in case of fire connection incident, theft etc. for which the government is paying their first premium of Rs 1,000. Government has formed Tripura Jal Board to improve water supply system. This board is functioning from 1st April 2022. Tripura Real Estate Regulatory Authority constituted. 3,134 apartments have been registered in 84 real estate projects.
