Prepare district agriculture plan, says Shobha

Union Minister inaugurates PM’s interaction programme

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shobha Karandlaje on Tuesday said that the Central Government will give approval to the district agriculture plan if the Udupi district administration sends one to it to improve the sector in the district.

Speaking after inaugurating an interaction programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the beneficiaries of Centrally-sponsored schemes in Udupi, Ms. Karandlaje said that the agriculture plan may include construction of warehouses, cold storage and food testing labs, among others, for which the Central Government will provide financial assistance. This, in turn, will help farmers in the district to get the right price for their produce, the Minister said.

Speaking about Central Government schemes, Ms. Karandlaje said that the Central Government has been providing facilities to the last person in the country without the intervention of any middleman. The Prime Minister has launched development schemes for people irrespective of their caste, religion or political affiliation for better utilisation of public funds and also, enhance their standard of life, she said.

The Central Government, Ms. Karandlaje said, wants the country to be self-sufficient in defence, fertilizers and cooking oil. While there has been much progress in the defence and fertilizer sectors, it is providing 90% subsidy towards raising crops for cooking oil.

Member of Legislative Assembly K. Raghupati Bhat said that several pro-people policies of the Central Government are reaching the beneficiaries without there being any loss to the Exchequer.

Karnataka Coastal Area Development Authority Chairperson Mattar Rathnakar Hegde, City Municipal Council President Sumithra Nayak, Deputy Commissioner M. Kurma Rao, Zilla Panchayat CEO Prasanna and others were present.

Inaugurating the programme in Mangaluru, Member of Legislative Assembly D Vedavyas Kamath said that more people should be enlightened about the Centrally-sponsored schemes and brought under their net. Interactions like the one being held on Tuesday will help create such awareness.