By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 22 Mar: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday held a review meeting of the Fisheries department and Animal Husbandry department and in the meeting, he emphasised the importance of the Fisheries department’s schemes in promoting the economy and generating self-employment. He reminded that the Trout Promotion Scheme has the potential to create employment opportunities in the hill districts and directed officials to achieve targets in this regard and to ensure effective monitoring of the action plan.
Dhami called for expediting the establishment of the Integrated Namami Ganga Aquatic Centre to preserve fish species and to attract foreign fishery tourists. He also instructed speeding up the development of the state-level Integrated Aqua Park to enhance Fisheries Department activities and create more employment. The CM stressed the department’s focus on implementing its plans to boost fish production, quality fish availability, seed production, and new fish species alongside promoting fish tourism.
It was shared in the meeting that a financial provision of Rs 170 crore has been made for the Trout Promotion Scheme, which aims for the production of 600 tonnes of trout fish, 75 lakh trout seeds, and 600 direct employment opportunities. It was also shared that a budgetary provision of Rs 250 crore has been made for the Integrated Aquatic Centre, designed to conserve fish species and attract foreign tourists. Additionally, a budget of Rs 53.39 crore has been proposed for the Integrated Aqua Park, with plans for producing 5100 tonnes of additional fish and ensuring the availability of quality fish species.
During the review of the Animal Husbandry Department, Dhami directed efforts to include contracts for supplying live goat, sheep, poultry, and trout fish to ITBP, promoting local products and strengthening producers’ economies. He called for resolving issues faced by farmer producer organisations and cattle-rearers and accelerating Gramya Gau Sevak Yojana and Gau Sadan construction. It was reported that 800 metric tonnes of live livestock and fish were supplied till October 2024, benefiting 253 farmers from cooperative societies and organisations, with Rs 1.60 crore disbursed through DBT.
While reviewing the Dairy Development Department, Dhami emphasised exploring additional income avenues for milk producers, such as establishing biogas plants. He also instructed timely payment of milk prices to farmers. While reviewing the Sugarcane Sugar Development Department, he enquired about the modernisation of sugar mills and payment status for sugarcane farmers.
Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bahuguna, Principal Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Shailesh Bagoli, BVRC Purushotham, V Shanmugam, Vinod Kumar Suman, Ranveer Singh Chauhan, and departmental officers were present during the reviews.
