In another step towards farmers’ welfare, the Uttar Pradesh government, on the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has constituted a 4-level committee to implement the Agri Stack scheme run by the Center for the inspection of crops in the state.
The main steering committee will be headed by the Chief Secretary himself while, state, district, and tehsil level committees have also been formed as implementation committees, which will work to implement the Agri Stack scheme at different levels, officials here on Saturday said.
The steering committee will not only keep an eye on the functioning of all these committees, but also ensure that no stone is left unturned in the proper implementation of the Agri Stack scheme in the state.
The preparation for the e-Padtal survey has already started in the state, which is proposed to be implemented under the Agri Stack scheme. For this, data from 31002 Lekhpal areas and 35983 e-investigation clusters falling under 350 tehsils in 75 districts of the state will be included.
It may be noted that the decision to implement the Agri Stack scheme in the country was taken by the Central Government as a step forward in creating the Unified Farmers Portal. Agri Stack aims to provide an easy digital way for farmers to ensure affordable credit for their crop needs, access to high-quality agri-inputs, and access to markets, including specialized advisories. It will also work to provide proper benefits of the schemes by the governments to the farmers, and in this episode, the database prepared by the e-Padtal survey will play an important role.
A 15-member state-level steering committee has been constituted to implement the Agri Stack scheme in Uttar Pradesh. Apart from inspection, this committee will be able to take necessary administrative and financial decisions from time to time for the implementation of the scheme. The steering committee will be headed by Chief Secretary Durgashankar Mishra himself.
While the members of the committee are Agricultural Production Commissioner, Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary Revenue Department, Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary IT and Electronics Department, Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary Planning, Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary Horticulture, Additional Chief Secretary Sugar Industry and Sugarcane Development Department, Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture Department, representative nominated by Government of India, Secretary Agriculture, Commissioner and Secretary Revenue Council, Commissioner Sugarcane Development Department, Director Horticulture Department, Director Agriculture and SEO of NIC will discharge their roles.
In coordination with various departments, this committee will take various financial and administrative policy decisions including the determination of incentive amount, and items of expenditure in addition to convergence and inspection.
An Implementation Committee has been formed under the chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture/Revenue Department, which will work keeping in mind the adjustments of state, district, and tehsil level committees.
The state, district and tehsil level committees have been put together and named as the implementation committee because, the smooth functioning of the three committees is a must for proper implementation of the Agristack scheme on the ground in the state.
Additional Chief Secretary (Horticulture) or a member nominated by him, Additional Chief Secretary Planning, Additional Commissioner from Revenue Council, Commissioner of Sugarcane Development Department, Director of Horticulture Department, Director of Agriculture, Director Agricultural Statistics and Crop Insurance UP, NIC’s SIO, SNO and two farmers nominated by Agriculture Director will also play their role as members in the state level implementation committe.
At the same time, 11-member committees have been constituted at the district level under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate. At the Tehsil level, a 6-member committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy District Magistrate has been formed to give shape to the Agristack scheme.