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Chief Minister lays base for Rerapara C&RD and inaugurates the SHG Mela

Shillong, February 24, 2022: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, today laid the Foundation Stone for the Rerapara C&RD Block in South West Garo HIlls and also inaugurated the SHG Mela in the presence of MLA, North Tura, Thomas A Sangma, MDC, Boldamgre, Stevie Marak and administrative officers from the district.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma said that the government of the State has focussed on creating livelihood opportunities for the womenfolk, farmers and the youth through different programs and schemes and one such program is creating livelihood through the Self Help Groups under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

“Many SHGs have been formed in different blocks of the State and these SHGs have been assisted financially through Start Up Funds, Revolving Fund, Community Management Fund and through Bank Loans,” he said.

The Chief Minister also informed the gathering that 40,000 SHGs with a membership strength of close to 4 lakh members have been assisted financially amounting to 220 crores throughout the State.

During the programme, 12 village organisations under Rerapara C&RD block were given financial assistance amounting to Rs. 1.30 cr and an amount of 50 lakh through Meghalaya Rural bank loan, which is interest free.

He urged the SHGs to fulfill the needs of the group and the community through the assistance.

He also highlighted the salient features and the welfare schemes of the FOCUS programme and also apprised the gathering at length of the different missions of the State like the Piggery Mission, Diary Mission, Poultry Mission, Aquaculture Mission etc and urged the community to reap the benefits of these missions though the co-operative societies.

He also informed that 2 crores 25 lakhs has been sanctioned for the new block building and construction work would start soon. He urged the BDO and the contractor to ensure that the building is completed within the time frame for the larger interest, convenience and benefit of the people of the area.

“We have seen that most of the blocks in the State are without buildings or infrastructures therefore the government has allocated 120 crores for new buildings and creation of infrastructures in all the forty six blocks of the State,” he said.

He also added that the tender for the same will be floated in March-April. The Chief Minister also added that the demands for creation of new blocks and civil subdivisions will be reviewed and examined.

Initiatives : Agriculture

Launch of “Restart Meghalaya Mission’ on 15th August 2020

The Mission comprise of a series of interventions to support farmers and entrepreneurs by enabling them to build growth-promoting basic infrastructure and services. Under this Mission, 1917iTEAMS – the IT Platform aimed at enabling farmers access to agricultural information, crop advisories and markets will be expanded logistically through induction of another 100 vehicles.

Creation of the Directorate of Food Processing on May 2018

With the objective of seizing opportunities in the sector and the untapped food processing potential of the state for uplifting the livelihoods of farmers and value chain actors, the Government of Meghalaya created the Directorate of Food Processing (DFP) as a one-stop agency to handle all matters relating to food processing in the state and to deal with all central government Ministries and Agencies (viz. Ministries of Agriculture, and Food Processing, SFAC, NCDC, NABARD, etc.) in all matters pertaining to the development of agricultural food processing sector.

First Ever Farmer’s Parliament held on 4th - 5th December 2018

The parliament was organised by the state department of agriculture in collaboration with Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) and the Hill Farmers' Union (HFU). As a step toward the promotion of new technologies, HFU with the support of Meghalaya government, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence App for farmers — called Nongrep (nongrep in Khasi language means farmer) with its software partner Impetus Solutions from Hyderabad — as a social innovation project. This app will address matters of farm aggregations, soil health and disease identification, crop yield, farm produce pickups, market linkage and retail sellers app.

Launch of the Farmer’s Portal on 7th May 2018

The Meghalaya Famers’ Portal (www.megfarmers.gov.in) of the Department of Agriculture is a platform for farmers to seek any information related to agriculture. Detailed information on farmers’ insurance, agricultural storage, crops, extension activities, seeds, pesticides, farm machineries, etc. is provided. Details of fertilizers, market prices, package and practices, programmes, welfare schemes are also given.

Awards & Recognitions
  • Meghalaya has been selected for the Commendation award in 'Total foodgrains Category-III' for 2017-18. The award consists of a citation and an amount of Rs. 1 crore.
  • Meghalaya Agriculture Department and the MIE Meghalaya Team won the '7th eNabling North East (eNorth East) Award 2019-20' in the 'Agriculture & Rural Development' category for 1917 iTEAMS project which is a project in collaboration with Digital India.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded Meghalaya on May 2018 the Krishi Commendation Award for the year 2015-16, in recognition of the commendable foodgrains production achieved by the State.
  • Meghalaya has been adjudged the Most Improved Small State in the category of Agriculture and received the India Today – "The State of the States” Award on 23rd November 2018.