Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 6 Jul: A meeting of the high-level committee of NABARD was held in the Secretariat on Monday under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan. During the meeting, the Chief Secretary directed departments to include as many projects as possible under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), emphasising the priority sector.
The Chief Secretary has directed all departments to upload their projects on the portal within the next three days. He said that proposals for reimbursement of ongoing projects should also be uploaded soon, so that reimbursement can be released on time. He also expressed concern over the slow-moving projects and directed that old projects be completed on priority. He said that the departmental secretaries should conduct a weekly review of slow-going projects and ensure that the works are completed.
The Chief Secretary stated that only when all departments adopt an integrated approach and develop projects, will the proper benefits of the schemes be realised in any area. He emphasised the need for departments to work in coordination with each other. In the agriculture and horticulture sector, larger projects should be developed, involving multiple clusters with complete linkages. He emphasised that such projects should provide cold chain, infrastructure, transportation, and other facilities to all clusters within a single project.
The Chief Secretary also requested NABARD to provide technical and expert support for this purpose. He said that NABARD should be provided access to the Gatishakti portal so that it can study all projects, identify four or five areas as pilot projects, and provide technical and expert assistance in preparing a comprehensive linkage plan for these identified areas. NABARD assured that a team would be deployed soon.
The Chief Secretary said that the Horticulture Department has been instructed to continuously monitor the polyhouse project by conducting weekly reviews at the secretary level to ensure its completion as soon as possible. He also directed the Animal Husbandry Department to establish large-scale hospitals in all districts and provide health facilities for animals in remote areas. The Chief Secretary directed all departments to provide completion certificates and reports to NABARD as soon as possible for the projects that have been completed.
During the meeting, it was stated that a total proposal target of Rs 1,000 crore has been set for the financial year 2026-27, of which the government has received proposals worth over Rs 500 crore. Of these, NABARD has received proposals worth Rs 271 crore, and of these Rs 271 crore projects, DPRs worth Rs 210 crore have been received by NABARD.
Principal Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Special Secretary Amit Sinha, Secretaries Dilip Jawalkar, Dr BVRC Purushottam, C Ravishankar, Dhiraj Singh Garbyal and CGM, NABARD, Pankaj Yadav along with other senior officers were present on the occasion.
