Retired employees’ reengagement only in exceptional cases
Suhail Bhat
Srinagar Dec 31: Agriculture Minister, Javeed Ahmad Dar, today said the government was in the final stages of introducing a weather-based crop insurance scheme for the Horticulture sector, describing it as a key part of long-term reforms in agriculture and allied sectors.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here, Dar said that while all 20 districts of the Union Territory were covered under the central PM-Kisan Fasal Bima Yojana, Horticulture had so far remained outside its ambit.
“Our concern is weather-based crop insurance. According to the PM-Kisan Fasal Bima Yojana, all our 20 districts are covered, but we are unable to do it in the horticulture sector,” he said.
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The Minister said the government was now close to finalising a separate scheme for horticulture. “We are very sensitive about that. It is in the final stage. The bidding process is on. One or two bidders have qualified, and we are evaluating that,” he said, adding that the Chief Minister had been taken on board.
Dar also said the administration was examining a Marketing Intervention Scheme (MIS) to protect farmers from price volatility and exploring ways to link it with financial support. “We have a budgetary provision. It is in its infancy and is being evaluated,” he said.
The MIS, he added, would act as a parallel or alternative support mechanism for farmers. “If this scheme is not there, then we will take that scheme. Both ways, we are pushing it in our horticulture sector,” he said.
Responding to criticism over the pace of agricultural reforms, the Minister said progress in the sector could not be judged over a short period. “You cannot judge agriculture within a year. Agriculture is a continuous process of reforms,” he said, pointing to flagship initiatives such as the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP).
He said HADP was a Rs 5,000-crore project with 39 components covering agriculture, animal husbandry, sheep husbandry, fisheries, and cooperatives. “We cover different things in different components. We are looking at all the things related to reforms, mechanisation and issues related to seed,” he said.
Alongside HADP, the government had launched the competitiveness improvement of agriculture and allied sectors project (JKCIP), an Rs 1,800-crore initiative funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Dar said JK-CIP had been designed to enhance and supplement HADP.
The Minister also referred to Centres of Excellence being set up in every district, where high-tech poly-greenhouses would develop exotic vegetable and floriculture varieties and supply seeds at lower costs to farmers.
Later, responding to criticism over the alleged re-engagement of retired officials in certain departments, the Minister said the government had no blanket policy on such extensions.
Dar said re-engagements were permitted only in exceptional cases where specific expertise was essential or where a department required short-term support to improve its functioning. “It is not a blanket order. Only in exceptional cases where expertise is essential or departmental improvement is needed can an extension be given. As of now, no such extension has been made,” he said.
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