New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday attended the governing council meeting of Niti Aayog here that was presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and emphasised the need for supplementary digital teaching methods.
Detailed discussions were held on achieving self-sufficiency in agricultural production and crop diversification, implementation of national education policy and urban bodies' administration.
The Chief Minister said the government is implementing Rs 1,010 crore Himachal Pradesh Crop Diversification Scheme in all districts. A budgetary provision has been made for promoting mushroom farming, especially 'shitake' and 'dhingree' varieties.
Thakur said 31,584 orchardists were covered under the state-sponsored schemes whereas 4.15 lakh orchardists benefitted under the centrally-sponsored schemes during in the past four and a half years.
He said in order to double the income of farmers 3,590 gram panchayats have been covered under the Prakritik Kheti Khushal Kisan Yojna, adding the farmers had saved about Rs 9.75 crore by switching over to natural manure, instead of chemical fertilizers.
He said 10 points of sale have been set in the state, besides Delhi and Chandigarh, for selling natural farming produce.
"Efforts are afoot to increase production of pulses, oilseeds and other agriculture produce to achieve self-sufficiency with the help of advanced technology."
Thakur urged the Prime Minister to allocate five DTH channels to Himachal Pradesh out of 200 channels under recently announced Swayam Prabha that will telecast high quality educational programmes.
He said the gross enrollment ratio of primary, middle and high schools in the state is hundred per cent, while it is 85.6 per cent in case of senior secondary schools.
The ratio goes up to 98.8 per cent if technical institutions are added to the senior secondary level.
He said girl children are being provided education and free residential facility, besides skill education in 14 Kasturba Gandhi Girls Schools.
He said the education database is being digitized in the state and capacity building of teachers is being done for preparing high quality study material in digital mode.
The Chief Minister said students have easy access to higher education institutions and infrastructure has been strengthened. Sardar Patel University in Mandi district has been made functional from April.
He said the average of state's gross enrollment ratio in higher education is 40.8 per cent against the national average of 27.1 per cent. He said the amount of scholarships under various categories and merit scholarships of girls and boys has also been increased.
The Chief Minister said the state is committed to strengthening the administration of urban bodies by filling necessary posts and improving efficiency in delivering speedy and effective services to the people with the help of the latest technology.