Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 20 Jul: Chief Secretary (CS) Anand Bardhan today chaired a meeting at the Secretariat with all the departments concerned to review the progress of growth centres across the state. During the meeting, he sought detailed information on the activities being undertaken and emphasised that growth centres are vital for strengthening local economic activity. He also stressed on the need to connect these centres with the market linkages and private partners to ensure their sustainability.
The CS directed that the growth centres under various departments must be reviewed regularly. He said those performing well should be provided with technical and other forms of support, while non-functional centres must be revived. He stressed that all the products should be linked with traceability, GI tagging and organic certification to enhance their value.
Highlighting the role of the Sheep and Wool Development Board, Bardhan said regular workshops and dialogues must be organised with livestock farmers to understand and resolve their issues. He added that, if other states are performing well in this sector, teams should be sent to study their mechanisms and adopt best practices.
Bardhan further emphasised on the importance of connecting growth centres with market linkages and cold storage chains. He suggested that the standalone micro storage chains can be developed to preserve products for longer durations and release them in the market as per demand, ensuring fair prices for producers.
The CS also directed that the coordination meetings be held with ‘House of Himalayas’ involving all the departments linked with growth centres. He said potential non-functional centres should be hand-held to make them operational. He asked NABARD to identify gaps and provide funding support, and stressed that business plans must be prepared for forest growth centres under JICA.
Those who were present at the meeting included Secretary Dilip Jawalkar, APCCF Naresh Kumar, Additional Secretary Kahkashan Naseem, Anand Srivastava, Jharnna Kamthan and other senior officials.
