Members of Parliament from Raichur and Kalaburagi Raja Amareshwar Naik and Umesh Jadhav, respectively, have directed the officials of various government departments, primarily the Agriculture and Horticulture departments, to create awareness among farmers about Central government-sponsored schemes to achieve the target fixed and extend the benefits effectively to the beneficiaries and also utilise the released grant in a proper manner to get more funds for development works in the future.
Both the MPs were addressing a gathering at the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) review meeting in Yadgir on Tuesday.
Mr. Naik, who presided over the meeting, said that out of the six taluks in Yadgir district, Shahapur and Wadagera taluks have been declared as severly drought-hit and the remaining four taluks of Yadgir, Shahapur, Hunsagi and Gurmitkal, have been declared as moderately drought-hit.
Therefore, officials of the Agriculture Department should submit a comprehensive, proper and accurate crop damage survey report to the crop assessment team from the Central government during its visit to the district to get compensation for crop losses, he added.
Earlier, an officer of the Agriculture Department explained to the meeting that the district has received scarce rainfall during June, August and September but there was a good spell of rain in July. The district received 468 mm rainfall against an average of 517 mm in these months. The targeted area for kharif was 4.01 lakh hectares of which 3.85 lakh hectares has been covered.
When asked about preparations for the rabi season, he replied saying that the required quantum of groundnut sowing seeds is in stock and they will be distributed through the Raita Sampark Kendra among farmers on demand at a cost of ₹12,300 per quintal for general category and at ₹11,300 per quintal for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
“Krishi Hondas, Gokatte and check-dams have been constructed under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana and irrigation sprinklers have been distributed to beneficiaries. Action has been taken to create awareness among farmers about Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana as a result of which 9,814 farmers in the district have registered their names under the scheme,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jadhav intervened and suggested that he should approach MLAs of all four constituencies with the details of the schemes sponsored by the Central government and take them into confidence to reach the schemes to the beneficiaries effectively.
District in-charge and Small Scale Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Sharanabasappa Darshanapur and legislator Channareddy Patil Tunnur raised the issue of improper implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission and expressed dissatisfaction over pipelines not being maintained properly.
“More than 90% of works under the Mission are of low quality and officers have not taken repair works of broken pipes and also the damaged part of roads in many areas,” Mr. Tunnur added.
While responding to them, an officer of the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Division said that 695 works have been taken up under Mission in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 period and of these, 306 works have been completed. And, of these completed works, 80 have been fully completed and handed over to the authority concerned.
He also promised that he will get the remaining works fully completed within a month when Mr. Darshanapur asked about the timeline for completion of these works. And, Mr. Jadhav said that this is a dream project of the Central government. Therefore, the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat should supervise the works and submit a detailed report after verifying them on the spot.
The officials of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), meanwhile, said that land acquisition for a four-lane road between Jewargi (Bhima Bridge) to Tinthini, which is a 59.9 km stretch, has been approved.
A proposal for a National Highway between Sindagi to Kodangal is pending. A stretch of 65 km (within Yadgir district) of the Surat-Chennai Expressway will be completed by October 2025 as 80% of land acquisition has been completed and the remaining 20% is pending.
At present, earth work is on for the expressway. They added that a project for Yadgir bypass will come up at a cost of ₹100 crore and that the bypass for Shahapur city is pending.
Member of Legislative Assembly Raja Venkatappa Naik, Deputy Commissioner B. Susheela, Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Panchayat Garima Panwar, Superintendent of Police G. Sangeetha and district-level officers were present.
