Srinagar- Department of Agriculture Production & Farmers Welfare (J&K Government), National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Convenor J&K UTLBC (J&K Bank) Monday collaborated together to conduct a sensitization/training programme for Banks/Financial Institutions on Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) & Credit Linked Schemes that was held at Bank’s Corporate Headquarters.
The programme was attended by various representatives from Agriculture Production Department, NIC and Banks while some officials joined the proceedings through video-conferencing from Jammu.
While addressing the participants, General Manager J&K Bank (Convenor UTLBC) Syed Rais Maqbool highlighted the importance of all the stakeholders involved in making the UT Government’s HADP a success by ensuring credit linked schemes under this programme reach to every farmer in the UT.
He said, “HADP is very important programme of UT Government with an aim to provide farmers/agriculturalists enough capital/resources to increase/boost their production by utilising modern machinery, fertilizers and other equipment. This is where all of us AP&FWD, NIC and Banks have to put in efforts to take these credit linked schemes under HADP to every nook and corner of the UT and make farmers aware about the benefits of these schemes.”
“Moreover, we need to handhold these farmers at every stage so that they opt for modern equipment, effective fertilizers/pesticides and more importantly the right credit facility without hassles. Banks have a huge role to play in helping farmer community to avail these subsidised credit linked schemes,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary (AP&EW Department) Shabnam Kamili said, “Aimed at scripting a positive and fruitful change in agriculture production in next five years, HADP along with its credit-linked schemes is an ambitious programme of J&K Government. The objective is to increase income of our farmers and rural community which will eventually lead to more stable and surging economy of our UT.”
While giving an overview of this flagship initiative Technical Officer AP&FWD Dr Anjum Andrabi stated, “We are hugely dependant on agriculture that contributes around 19% to our GDP. So boosting this sector through modern means and technology was need of the hour.”
The programme, he said, was digitally powered.” Right from registration to applying for any of the scheme under the programme, all the steps can be taken from comfort of the home. We have tried to make things hassle-free so that aspiring Agripreneurs are encouraged to make most of this facility,” he said.
Officials from NIC that has designed and curated the HADP portal gave a power-point presentation of the workflow regarding registration, application and other steps required for availing the credit schemes.