Monday, 27 June 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The Education, Health and Cooperatives minister Dhan Singh Rawat has ordered extension of the Mukhyamantri Ghasyari Kalyan Yojana (MGKY) in all the 11 mountainous districts of the state. This scheme is at present operational in four districts of the state. The Cooperative department has added 88 Multipurpose Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (MPACS) in these districts with the scheme.
In a review meeting with the officers of the department on Sunday, the minister directed the Cooperatives secretary BVRC Purushottam to extend this ambitious scheme in all the districts located in the mountainous areas of the state.
He said that after success in the four districts the MGKY is being extended in all mountainous districts. Rawat said that the objective of the scheme is that the burden of the fodder is removed from the shoulders of more than three lakh women residing in the mountainous areas. He said that the cooperative multipurpose societies would provide Silage (packed green Fodder) in all households. Rawat said that the women would also receive packed Total Mixed Ration (TMR) for their cattle.
The minister said that the government would help the farmers in production of maize and would also purchase it for making Silage. The objective of the scheme is to increase the income of farmers. He further informed that the Silage and TMR increases the fat content of milk by 1 to 1.5 per cent and it helps in increasing the income of cattle owners.
Rawat said that the rural women in mountainous areas spend about eight to ten hours of their daily time collecting firewood and fodder for animals.
“We are providing nutritious fodder for the cattle under MGKY which would save the time the womenfolk used to spend in collecting fodder for the cattle and improve their overall health. It would also save them from attacks by wild animals and other accidents. They can now spend the time saved in increasing their family income and proper upbringing of their children,’’ he said.
The minister added that two thousand acre of land in the state would be brought under cultivation of maize. He said that since the maize crop is ready in only 90 to 120 days the farmers can earn more benefit by growing oilseeds, vegetables and peas in their land.
The Cooperatives secretary BVRC Purushottam said that at present the scheme is operational in Pauri, Rudraprayag, Almora and Champawat and now it would be extended to Tehri, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Dehradun, Nainital, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh. He said that in Dehradun and Nainital the scheme would cover only the blocks located in mountainous areas.
