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Hindustan Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan: Lack of quality seeds, market for produce among major challenges for farmers
As the 15-day nationwide 'Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan' (VKSA) ended with a programme by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Gujarat on Thursday, heads of the ICAR institutes in Karnal presented the summary of Haryana chapter of the campaign, putting poor availability of quality seeds, lack of marketing access and awareness regarding crop insurance, loans and other subsidies as major challenges before farmers. National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) director Dheer Singh, who was the Nodal Officer for VKSA in Haryana, said that 902 teams worked to gather the issues and written feedback or grievances were taken from the farmers during the campaign from May 29 to June 12. At a press conference at his office, Singh said that the teams comprising scientists from the central institutes, with support from the state government and other institutes visited 3,482 cluster villages in all 22 districts of the state and had a direct interaction with nearly 4.5 lakh farmers. 'We received feedback of more than 10,000 farmers and some common among them will be clubbed for a final report to be submitted with the higher authorities,' the NDRI director said. Ratan Tiwari, director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR); Shiv Kumar Yadav, head, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), regional station, Karnal; Rajan Sharma, joint director, NDRI, BS Meena, principal scientist and coordinator of VKSA in Karnal and others also joined the media interaction. Officials said that the campaign announced by Union minister Chouhan last month, aimed to create awareness among farmers about modern technology and new seed varieties, while also laying the foundation for advanced agriculture, modern farming techniques, introducing welfare schemes of the government and also hearing their grievances. Among the major challenges faced by the farmers, NDRI and IIWBR directors said, is chronic shortages and poor timing of DAP, urea, gypsum and other as well as frequent adulteration in fertilisers, insecticides, oil cakes and seeds. 'Also among the major problems captured during the discussion were over use of nitrogen-based fertilisers, particularly urea, need for effective management strategies against Bakanae disease in rice, poor seed germination and high weed pressure in direct-seeded rice (DSR). Farmers demanded introduction of high-yielding, salt-tolerant varieties of rice, wheat, and other major crops as well as short-duration rice varieties to support crop diversification and timely sowing, high-yielding crop varieties suited for natural and organic farming systems and strengthening of public sector hybrid development programs in rice, maize, and vegetables were other suggestions,' IIWBR director Tiwari said. Similarly, NDRI director said that they were told about persistent delays and blockages in subsidy disbursement, severe delays in crop insurance claims and cumbersome process of agri or animal loans. 'There is a strong demand for agricultural implements like DSR machines, mulchers, balers, paddy straw balers and others. We also came across the fact that there is a need for para-veterinary services at village and block level and there has been poor coordination in animal husbandry services as often the insemination services are done by untrained personnel. In dairies, farmers demand guaranteed and uniform milk pricing, reduction of middlemen and direct-to-customer sales via local markets or apps. There were numerous complaints about lack of marketing access for produce like crops, honey, milk, paneer, vegetables and others,' Singh added.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
BJP Haridwar MLA, niece sentenced to 6 months in jail for ‘wrongful confinement' of relative
Dehradun: BJP MLA from Haridwar's Ranipur constituency, Adesh Chauhan, and his niece Dipika Singh were sentenced to six months' imprisonment by a special CBI court on Monday for wrongfully confining Singh's father-in-law at Gangnahar police station in 2009 and filing a false dowry harassment case against him. Reacting to the sentencing, Chauhan said he and his counsel "will analyse the order properly before contemplating the next legal move." The court of additional chief judicial magistrate Sandeep Singh Bhandari also sentenced three police personnel including RK Chamoli, the then station in-charge of Gangnahar police station, and then sub-inspectors Dinesh Kumar and Rajendra Singh Rautela, for their involvement in the case. Among the three, Chamoli died during the trial, Rautela retired as an inspector, and Kumar continues to serve in the state police as an inspector. "The five were accused of unlawfully detaining Dipika's father-in-law, Dheer Singh Chauhan, at the police station for two days in June 2009 without charges, before booking him in a false dowry harassment case on the third day," said CBI's prosecuting officer Ram Kumar. He added that the CBI found that Chauhan had orchestrated the illegal confinement after Dheer Singh "refused to give Rs 5 lakh to him for his election campaign." The dowry case, he added, was filed using "false evidence." "After securing bail, Dheer Singh approached various authorities seeking a fair investigation and later moved the Uttarakhand high court, which handed the case to the CBI in 2019 due to concerns about whether the state police would carry out a fair and unbiased investigation against its personnel," said Kumar. The uncle-niece duo was charged under IPC sections 385 (extortion by putting a person in fear of injury), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 120B (criminal conspiracy). Dinesh Kumar was booked under sections 120B, 220 (commitment for trial or confinement by a person having authority who knows it to be contrary to law), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342, and 365 (kidnapping or abduction with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person). Rajendra Rautela was charged under sections 120B, 220, 342, and 466 (forgery of record of court or of public register). "The central probe agency filed its chargesheet in 2021 after completing the investigation," Kumar said. The dowry harassment case against Dheer Singh was later declared null and void following the CBI probe.
