Raipur . Today, demands for grants of Rs 5608 crore 54 lakh 69 thousand for the departments of Minister Kedar Kashyap were passed by voice vote in the Chhattisgarh Assembly. These include Rs 2832 crore 30 lakh 64 thousand for Forest Department, Rs 254 crore 76 lakh 57 thousand for Cooperative Department, Rs 1413 crore 26 lakh 58 thousand for Water Resources Department, Rs 698 crore 19 lakh 90 thousand for minor irrigation construction work. This includes Rs 57 crore for foreign aided projects related to the Water Resources Department and Rs 353 crore 1 lakh for NABARD aided projects.
Forest department
Forest Minister Kedar Kashyap, in response to the discussion on the grant demands of the Forest and Climate Change Department, said that there is about 44.24 percent forest area in the state. Here mainly wet and dry sal and teak species forests as well as dry mixed forests and bamboo forests are found. He said that our government is concerned about the protection and improvement of the environment as well as trying to improve the standard of living of the tribal brothers. For this, a budget provision of more than Rs 2832 crore has been made in the next financial year. To spread greenery in the state, it is working on a plan to plant more than 20 lakh saplings in 2431 hectare area under ‘Hariyar Chhattisgarh’ scheme in the forest areas. A budget provision of Rs 240 crore has been made for the conservation of natural regeneration.
Similarly, a provision of Rs 68 crore 89 lakh has been made for the promotion of bamboo forests and Rs 272 crore 4 lakh for the improvement of degraded forests. Under the River Bank Tree Plantation Scheme, there is a provision of Rs 7 crore 47 lakh in the year 2024-25 for planting more and more trees on the river banks with the aim of preventing soil erosion. There is a provision of Rs 119 crore 27 lakh for work related to soil conservation and flood control, Rs 40 crore for environmental forestry, Rs 7 crore for tree plantation, Rs 8 crore 60 lakh for construction of culverts on forest roads in this budget. Has been done.
Minister Kashyap said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai, our government is also doing special work for the establishment of grazing units and grasslands for cattle grazing in the forests. Provision has also been made in this budget to ensure permanent pasture for cattle. Along with this, the government is also making special efforts to establish forest science centers and promote natural forest tourism. Necessary resources are being made available in the environment awareness centres, nature safaris and tourist places established in the national parks, sanctuaries, tiger reserves and other areas of the state with the aim of providing employment to the local residents and increasing the income of the concerned forest committees. He said that local youth will be trained as nature guides from nationally renowned institutions like Jungle Lodges and Resort Karnataka, Bombay Natural, History Society. Minister Kedar Kashyap said in the House that the trend of eco-tourism has increased at the national and international level. Eco-tourism board will be established with the aim of developing the natural tourism centers of the state in the form of eco-tourism. Minister Kashyap said that a provision of Rs 1,000 crore has been made for the financial year 2024-25 for the implementation of CAMPA works. He said that our government is also very concerned about the elephant-human conflict. Special efforts are being made to control elephant-human conflict. He said that under the guarantee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ‘Mission B’ scheme will be expanded to 7 districts to stop human-elephant conflict. According to the provision of work planning in the forest area allotted to Forest Management Committees, the amount of forest produce obtained from main felling of wooden well/forest enhancing thinning has been increased from 15 percent of the total price at the site to 20 percent and for main felling of bamboo well/forest enhancing thinning, the amount has been increased to 20 percent. As a result, a provision has been made to give 100 percent of the amount to the Forest Products Committee.
cooperative department
Cooperative Minister Kedar Kashyap, while replying to the discussion on departmental grant demands, said that our government under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai is committed to the development of all sections including the poor, farmers and forest dwellers. Our government is providing free loans up to Rs 5 lakh to the farmers of the state through primary agricultural credit cooperative societies. Free loans up to Rs 2 lakh are being provided to productive farmers and farmer groups, free loans up to Rs 3 lakh to fish farmers, and free loans up to Rs 3 lakh for horticulture and agriculture. Under this scheme of the government, farmers have become prosperous. He said that our government has provided short-term agricultural loans worth Rs 7 thousand 629 crore to 15 lakh 23 thousand farmers of the state. He said that a provision of Rs 48 crore has been made in this budget to ensure payment of sugarcane price to the farmers of cooperative sugar factories. A provision of Rs 11 crore 42 lakh has been made for increase in the share capital of cooperative societies.
Similarly, a project worth Rs 185 crore 31 lakh has been approved in the committees for construction of warehouse cum office of 200 metric ton capacity. Currently 409 warehouses are under construction, which is targeted to be completed in this financial year. He said that it has been decided to write off the amount of Rs 5.99 crore as sunk expenses incurred on the construction of maize based ethanol plant in Kondagaon. He created 100 posts at the rate of 20 posts per office for the establishment of Cooperative Department offices in 5 new districts Sarangarh-Bilaigarh, Sakti, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai and Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur. Is. For this, a provision of Rs 50 lakh has been made in the budget.
Department of Water Resources
Water Resources Minister Kedar Kashyap told in the House that Chhattisgarh is an agricultural state. More than 80 percent of the population here is dependent on agriculture. There is a total sown area of 56.83 lakh hectares in the state, where irrigation is 35 percent. For irrigation facilities in the state, 8 major, 38 medium and 2472 minor irrigation schemes, 827 anicuts and stop dams have been constructed. This provides irrigation to 21.57 lakh hectares of the state. Minister Kashyap said that in the financial year 2024-25, a provision of Rs 300 crore has been made for 2432 schemes/works, with the completion of which it will be possible to expand the irrigation capacity by one lakh 81 thousand hectares. Provision has been made in the budget for the survey of Sikasar-Kodar-Interlinking Project, which is a priority of the government under the guarantee of the illustrious Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that a provision of Rs 316 crore has been kept in this budget for 4 major mega irrigation projects Arpa-Bhainsajhar, Kelo Reservoir, Rajiv-Samoda-Nisada-Vyapvartan and Sondhur Reservoir.
Minister Kashyap said that our government is working by preparing a special action plan for the development of tribal dominated areas. Under this, 350 schemes costing Rs 2200 crore have been included in this budget for expansion of irrigation facilities in Bastar division. With this, irrigation facility will be available in 35 thousand 600 hectare area. Along with this, work is being done in the budget to provide maximum irrigation facilities in the forest areas of Bastar during Rabi season. A provision of Rs 6,400 crore has been made in this budget for 780 projects for irrigation facilities in Surguja division. With this, irrigation facility can be provided in 62 thousand 700 hectare area. Provision for SWIC State Water Information Center has been made to develop knowledge producing analytical tools and decision support systems for better water management. He said that there are many small, big and medium scale dams in the state and some dams are more than 100 years old. A provision of Rs 72 crore has been made for their security.
Skill Development
While replying to the discussion on the demands for grants, Skill Development Minister Kedar Kashyap said that our government is making continuous efforts towards providing employment and self-employment to the youth of the state. He said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai, many provisions have been made to train the youth of the state in various professions. A provision of Rs 22 crore 56 lakh 50 thousand has been made in this year’s budget for Livelihood College Society. He said that so far 4 lakh 77 thousand 610 youth have been trained under the Chief Minister Skill Development Scheme. Out of these trained youth, 2 lakh 61 thousand 881 youth have been employed. This year, 7368 youth have been trained and 4368 youth have been employed. At present 2395 youth are training in various trades.
