Chandigarh, August 7- Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal  today attended the 7th meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog held under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the Haryana Government under the able leadership of the Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi is making every possible effort to realize the vision of Atamnirbhar Bharat and the State will usher in a new era of sustainable economic growth and equitable social and regional development.

In the meeting, the NITI Aayog assured full cooperation to the State Governments in achieving the target of India becoming a USD 5 trillion economy. With this, the Aayog has also assured states of reducing imports and boosting exports of the country.

The per capita income of Haryana is highest among the major states of India

The Chief Minister said that despite being a small state Haryana has made a significant contribution to the country's economy. The per capita income of Haryana is Rs. 2,74,635, which is the highest among the major states of India. Haryana is also included in the leading states of the country on the parameters of economic development, said Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister informed that since 2015-16 to 2020-21, State’s growth rate has been continuously recorded more than 6 percent. Haryana’s manufacturing growth rate is 10 percent, which is highest in the country.

The Chief Minister said that the offices of 400 Fortune companies of the world are set up in Gurugram. Haryana is also the largest software exporting state in the country, while in terms of providing logistics facilities to industries, Haryana is placed at the second position in the country and first in North India.

“More than half the area of the State comes under NCR. To promote the business and industrial sector in this NCR region, we are developing it as Logistic Hub,” informed Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that Haryana is included in the top achievers category in the recently released State Ease of Doing Business ranking. For its remarkable work in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, Haryana has been ranked third in the country, while in the NITI Aayog’s Innovation Index, Haryana has been ranked among the top 3 states of the country, asserted Sh. Manohar Lal.

In Haryana, the share of Horticulture and Animal Husbandry has increased in the Agriculture Sector

While referring to the agenda points of the meeting, the Chief Minister said that Haryana is an agrarian state. He said that the State contributes about 15 percent to the ‘Central Pool of Food Grains’, while the geographical area of the State is only 1.34 percent of the country.

“Our agricultural growth rate is about 3.3 percent per annum. Productivity is high in the state, which is Rs. 1.57 lakh per hectare. The State’s growth rate is about 8.7 percent, while the country's labour productivity growth rate is 3.3 percent. These figures clearly indicate that the income of the farmer of the State is constantly increasing. The share of Horticulture and Animal Husbandry is increasing in the agriculture sector, informed Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that the use of the latest technology and crop diversification is being promoted in the state. He further informed that an incentive of Rs. 7000 per acre is given to the farmers who grow these crops in place of paddy under the 'Mera Pani-Meri Virasat' scheme. Furthermore, an incentive amount of Rs 76 crore has been deposited in the accounts of 74,133 farmers through DBT.

Under this scheme, an area of 46,249 hectares has been diversified in the last two years. An incentive of Rs. 10,000 per hectare is being given for the cultivation of pulses and oilseeds in place of Millet (Bajra). Also, crop diversification has been adopted in an area of 62,500 acres for maize and 32,500 acres for pulses. An incentive of Rs. 10,000 per hectare is also being given to the farmers who sow paddy through Direct-Seeded Rice (DSR) technique. This saves about 25 to 30 percent of water, said Sh. Manohar Lal. 

Special scheme for cultivation of Dragon fruit in Haryana

The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi had laid emphasis on encouraging the cultivation of Dragon fruit and Haryana is the first state which has launched a special scheme to promote the cultivation of Dates and Dragon fruit. Under this scheme, a subsidy of Rs. 3 lakh per hectare is provided for the cultivation of Dragon fruit. 

“To free the farmers from the risk of facing losses due to fall in the market prices of fruits and vegetables, Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana has been implemented in the State. Under this scheme, 21 horticultural crops and Millet (Bajra) have also been included.  We provided assistance to Millet (Bajra) farmers at the rate of Rs. 600 per quintal (difference between MSP and market rate) and an amount of Rs. 429 crore was paid to the 2, 38,245 farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT),” informed Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that the farmers of the state have got fair prices for their crops, without buying even a single grain of Millet (Bajra).  Besides this, to cover farmers growing horticultural crops against abiotic factors, the State Government has implemented Mukhyamantri Bagwani Bima Yojana (MBBY). In this scheme also 21 horticultural crops have been included, the claim amount of Rs. 75,000 for vegetables and Rs 1 lakh per hectare for fruits is being given, while the farmer gives only 2.5 percent as premium, which is Rs. 1875 for vegetable and Rs. 2500 per hectare for fruit crops.

More than Rs. 50,000 crores deposited in farmers' accounts

The Chief Minister said that through the Meri Fasal Mera Byora portal, the farmers have been disbursed an amount of more than Rs. 50,000 crore through DBT for their crops. Using digital technology, we have made payment for the crop within 72 hours of its purchase and have also paid interest at the rate of 9 percent to the farmers for the delayed payments.

“We have started the 'Uttam Beej Portal' to end the monopoly of private seed sellers. e-RUPI voucher system is being started for giving subsidies on machineries. Demand-driven, need-based crop diversification in Agriculture is the need of the hour. The more the agriculture is linked to the market and is diversified as per the market demand, the more the income will increase,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that Haryana ranks second in the country in terms of per capita availability of milk per day. ‘Pashu Kisan Credit Card Scheme’ is being issued on the lines of ‘Kisan Credit Card’. He further informed that around 3.40 lakh animals have been insured under the 'Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Pashudhan Suraksha Yojana'.

“There is a lot of scope in fisheries, hence we have established 12 re-circulatory aqua culture systems and 20 biofloc units in Haryana.  In the year 2021-22, 2.09 lakh metric tonnes of fish have been produced in the state. The target is to increase it to 2.10 MT in the year 2022-23,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that in the year 2021-22, 2901 metric tonnes of white lobster have been produced in an area of 1250 acres in the state. Besides this, the State has also promoted the production of biogas to increase the income of the farmers.

The Chief Minister said that State Government is completely focused on promoting natural farming in the State and farmers should also be encouraged for the same. “Several schemes are being run by the State Government to promote natural farming. We are shifting from chemical farming to natural farming as a result of which so far 2,804 farmers have been registered on the natural farming portal, said Sh. Manohar Lal. In the meeting, the Chief Minister urged the Central Government to promote natural farming in the country.

Haryana targets to implement National Education Policy-2020 by 2025

The Chief Minister said that Haryana has set a target to implement New Education Policy- 2020 by the year 2025.  For this, a high-level committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Education Minister.

“We have made extensive efforts to ensure easy access to education for every child, prepare teachers for teaching in line with the New Education Policy and to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure. In Haryana, one primary and one secondary school is there within a radius of one kilometer and three kilometers respectively. Along with this free transportation facility is also being provided to the students,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.

Realizing the need for English as a medium of instruction, 138 Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary Schools (English medium) have been established with CBSE affiliation, said the Chief Minister.

Sh. Manohar Lal further informed that Super-100 Programme is being run in the State to provide special coaching to the meritorious students studying in government schools. In the last two years, 80 students who have taken coaching under this programme have got admission in IITs, NITs in engineering colleges and in MBBS courses in medical colleges, he informed.

The Chief Minister said that with the aim of ensuring online education for the students studying in government schools, free tablets were distributed to 5 lakh students in Classes 10th to 12th.

Sh. Manohar Lal said that Haryana is the first state in the country to implement an online teacher transfer policy. 93 percent of the teachers in the State got posted as per their preferences.

“Haryana has achieved stellar performance in the National Achievement Survey - 2021 as a result of continuous reforms in the field of education. According to Survey, the performance of government schools in the state has been better than private schools,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.

Using IT for better delivery of citizen-centric services

The Chief Minister further informed that under the centralized GIS-based property tax survey so far 42 lakh properties have been surveyed. NDC portal has been started for getting a No Due Certificate. Property ID is being linked to 'Parivar Pehchan Patra' (PPP). An online portal has been started for the e-auctioning of advertisement sites.  The State Government has decided to regularize over 2,000 colonies.  Also, 114 ponds are proposed to be renovated under 'Amrit Sarovar Yojana', said Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that digital platform is being used for better delivery of citizen-centric services. “We have made provision for the delivery of 35 urban citizen-centric services on the Government of India platform known as Service Plus Platform (SARAL). Work is being done on giving ownership rights to citizens in 'Lal Dora' of municipal bodies.

Union Defense Minister, Sh. Rajnath Singh, Home Minister, Sh. Amit Shah and all the members of the Union Cabinet, Chief Ministers of various states, Deputy Chairman and members of NITI Aayog and senior officers of the Center and State Governments also remained present in the meeting.