http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-12871.html
Mayawati wants to double the agricultural production in Uttar Pradesh Lucknow, Dec 16 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today directed the officers to formulate a strategy for doubling the agricultural production of the State and present it before the State Cabinet within a month. She directed the officers to take punitive action against those who had furnished wrong income certificates to avail various government facilities. She also decided to replace Jal Nigam with some other department for the installation of hand-pumps under the rural drinking water programme, so that its resources could be fully utilised for the large projects. Ms Mayawati gave these directives when officials apprised her of the feedback they received during the monthly review meeting of the Principal Secretaries/Secretaries of all the Departments. The Chief Minister said her government wanted to make the farmers of the State prosperous and happy and keeping this in mind it had taken several important decisions. She asked the officers of all the related Departments to prepare a strategy for doubling agricultural production and present it before the Cabinet within a span of one month. She said a consolidated action plan should be formulated with the coordination between agriculture and related activities, so that the farmers got various agricultural inputs/facilities like fertilisers, certified seeds, soil testing and irrigation in a timely and smooth manner, so that the income of the farmers could be doubled in the next three years. She said adequate quantity of fertilisers should be stored before the start of the crop cycle, so that the farmers had no difficulty in getting them. She also directed the DMs to keep a check on the distribution of fertilisers by private sellers. She said priority should be accorded to such proposals which could be sent to the Government of India under the Backward Area Grant Fund in the next fiscal, which would ensure creation of enough agricultural infrastructure in the rural areas. She said the number of Mandis should be increased, so that the farmers got fair prices of their produce. --UNI
