Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Governor Mangubhai Patel, on Thursday, said that effective efforts should be made to empower the Gram Sabhas under the PESA act. He said that the Gram Sabha has got a lot of rights under the PESA act. It is necessary that the departments motivate the gram sabhas to exercise their rights.
Effective efforts should be made to enable the tribal community to make use of the entitlements. Efforts should be made for public awareness by organising camps. The tribal community should be encouraged to try to resolve disputes by using community rights granted under the PESA act. Governor Patel was reviewing Home, Jail, Public Health Engineering and Farmers Welfare and Agriculture Development at Raj Bhavan on Thursday. Minister of State for Public Health Engineering Shri Brijendra Singh Yadav was also present.
Madhya Pradesh Is The First State In The Implementation Of Agricultural Infrastructure Fund In The Country
Minister for Farmers' Welfare and Agriculture Development Shri Kamal Patel informed Governor Shri Patel that Madhya Pradesh is at the first place in the country in the implementation of agricultural infrastructure funds. An amount of more than Rs 4 thousand 500 crore has been distributed in the state. He said that the state is the first in the country, where agriculture insurance has been done for forest villages.
By adding 916 villages to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, crops of one lakh 36 thousand 868 farmers have been insured and 67 thousand 478 farmers have been paid more than Rs 44 crore. He informed that the state is also the leading state in the country in procurement of pulses and oilseed products at the support price. It was told that work is being done to increase the income of farmers by promoting crop diversification in place of single cropping system by making an agriculture action plan in the state.
Efforts are also being made for capacity development of the stakeholders besides motivating the farmers to adopt production of sustainable crops. Work is being done in the direction of proper utilization of resources by dissemination of advanced technology in the agriculture sector and convergence and coordination with various departments.
Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country, which has used satellite based remote sensing technology for yield estimation of all major crops. The state has gone ahead of the country's average in agricultural mechanization. Pilot training courses have been conducted in Bhopal and Indore for the use of drones in agriculture. Millet Promotion Federation is being formed in the state so that the millet producers get better price for the crop. Efforts are also being made for GI tag for specific millet products. For the buy back of organic cotton, 1500 farmers have been directly contracted with the industry in the state in the initial phase itself.
All The Villages Of The State Were Covered Under Jal Jeevan Mission
Governor Patel was informed during the review meeting of the Public Health Engineering Department that schemes under the mission have been approved for 100 percent villages of the state. In the mission the state has completed 50 percent of the target. The state has certified more than one crore rural families in Har Ghar Jal category. The state is the only state in the country whose all district level laboratories are NABL certified. Under the mission, the state has been leading in checking water quality samples according to all the parameters in the clean water security campaign. The department has appointed 263 posts on 1363 vacant posts of direct recruitment, recruitment for the remaining posts is under process. Out of 71 posts of backlog, 11 posts have been recruited, remaining recruitment is under process.
Reduction In Registered Criminal Cases After Implementation Of PESA Rule
In the review of the Home Department, the Governor was told that there has been a reduction of up to three percent in the comparative number of criminal cases registered before and after the implementation of PESA Rule 2022. It was informed that action is being taken to withdraw the criminal cases pending in the courts of general nature with punishment of less than one year. Regarding withdrawal of cases, awareness camps are being organized by the State Legal Services Authority. Orders have been issued in 458 cases out of 516 applications received for the withdrawal of criminal cases registered against the tribals.
Premature Release Of 947 Prisoners
Governor Patel also reviewed the jail department. Appreciating the new release policy for life imprisonment, he has congratulated the state government. The Governor was informed that in the new policy, prisoners are being released on 4 occasions, Republic Day, Dr.Bhimrao Ambedkar Jayanti, Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti. Since the implementation of the policy in September 2022, 947 prisoners have been released so far. Of these, 151 belong to the Scheduled Tribe community. 171 prisoners have been released in the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence, out of which 26 belong to the Scheduled Tribes. In relation to the appointment of vacant posts and backlog posts, it was informed that the appointment process has been taken from the Staff Selection Board on 44 different posts of backlog and 317 direct recruitment of new appointments. 23 posts of direct recruitment and 12 posts of backlog have been appointed on 35 posts. The process of filling the remaining 326 vacant posts is in progress. It was informed that till June 30, 476 camps have been organized to provide legal aid to the inmates of the jails, in which 2 thousand 228 prisoners were benefitted with legal aid.
On this occasion, Chairman Tribal Cell Deepak Khandekar, Additional Chief Secretary Home Rajesh Rajaura, Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture Ashok Barnwal, Principal Secretary Public Health Engineering Sanjay Kumar Shukla, Principal Secretary to the Governor D.P. Ahuja, Principal Secretary Jail Sanjeev Kumar Jha, Director General Jail Arvind Kumar, Special Director General of Police G.P. Singh, Member Secretary of Tribal Cell B.S. Jamod and Agriculture Commissioner M. Selvendran along with senior officers of the concerned departments were present.
