Odisha plans Rs 402 cr Investment in RKVY in 2015-16

Bhubaneswar 10th June: Odisha targets to invest around Rs 402 cr in Rastriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY) for 2015-16. This has been discussed in the state level sanctioning committee meeting held under chairmanship of Chief Secretary Sri Gokul Chandra Pati today in secretariat conference hall wherein Principal Secretary Agriculture Sri Rajesh Verma presented the updates and outlined the issues for discussion.

Reviewing the proposed projects Chief Secretary has directed the department to take up agriculture extension works through progressive farmers and field demonstration. Department has also been directed to complete preparation of comprehensive state agricultural plan within a week.

Discussions in the meeting revealed that a total number of 447 projects have been taken up in the State under RKVY out of which 447 have been completed and 264 projects are in various stages of completion. Hundred percent of the utilization of the central share of the scheme during previous years has been updated with Govt of India and the State has been considered eligible for further grants. It may be pertinent to mention here that the scheme is financed with 50:50 percent of funds from central and state Govt.

The meeting finalized around 9 major projects under BGREI for 2015-16. These projects like cluster demonstration, seed production, seed distribution nutrient management, soil ameliorants, integrated paste management, asset building, site specific activities,  post harvest management,  marketing support and cr5opping system based trainings have been included in these projects.

The meeting also discussed about other 31 projects of various departments proposed to be taken up under RKVY. Chief Secretary Sri Pati has directed Principal Secretary Agriculture to review the progress of individual projects under each department and has warned  that the projects proposed by  slow moving departments will not be considered for sanction. The departments have been directed to expedite implementation of ongoing projects and complete it within scheduled time.

Development Commissioner Sri U. N. Behera, Additional Chief Secretary Finance Sri R. Balakrishnan, Principal Secretary Water Resources Sri Pradeep Kumar Jena, Agriculture Commissioner Sri Pramod Meherda along with senior officers from various departments including experts from OUAT participated in discussions.