Union Minister pledges Centre’s support to J&K’s development

Srinagar, Jul 3: Reaffirming the Centre’s commitment under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the holistic development of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Shivraj Singh Chouhan Thursday said that he was just a call away.

Co-chairing a high-level review meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at the civil secretariat in Srinagar, the union minister said, “For Viksit Bharat, a Viksit J&K is essential. I extend my full support to CM Omar Abdullah and his team and assure you that my office is just a call away whenever needed.”

Chouhan lauded the J&K government led by CM Omar Abdullah for its achievements in agriculture and allied sectors and appreciated the momentum being built at the grassroots.

CM Omar, in his welcome address, expressed heartfelt gratitude to the union minister for his prompt response and visit.

“Your presence here today has truly won our hearts. We have always known you to be a positive and responsive leader, but I must admit that I didn’t expect such a swift and gracious response. A few days ago, during the NITI Aayog meeting, I had requested you to visit, especially after the Pahalgam incident, to reassure the people that the nation stands with us. Today, you are here with your full team, which reflects your deep commitment and solidarity,” he said.

The CM said that the face-to-face engagement, as opposed to formal correspondence, helps in quicker resolution of issues.

“This meeting itself is a testimony to how much can be achieved through dialogue and collaboration,” he said.

The union minister and the CM jointly made commitment for grassroots empowerment, inclusive growth, and stronger Centre-UT collaboration to transform the rural and agricultural ecosystem of J&K.

On the occasion, in the presence of the CM and the union minister, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Kudumbashree and JKRLM to establish 20 food service enterprises across all 20 districts of J&K.

This initiative aims to empower women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs) by creating local employment opportunities and building market-ready ventures.

The union minister and the CM also launched ‘Har Didi Ek Kahani’, a compendium of success stories of over 100 women SHGs who have become Lakhpati Didis through structured enterprise support, capacity building, and mentorship under the JKRLM framework.

The meeting was also attended by Union Minister of State for A&FW, Ram Nath Thakur; Minister for Agriculture Production, RDD and PR, Javid Ahmed Dar, and Advisor to CM, Nasir Aslam Wani.

Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Secretary DA&FW, GoI, Devesh Chaturvedi; Secretary DARE, GoI, Mangi Lal Jat; Additional Chief Secretary to CM, Dheeraj Gupta; Joint Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Additional Secretary DA&FW, along with senior officers from the Government of India and J&K Kashmir administration including Administrative Secretaries of Agriculture Production, PWD, RDD, and heads of Departments of Agriculture, Rural Development and allied sectors were present in the meeting.

Earlier in the meeting, Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, Shailendra Kumar and Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Aijaz Asad, gave presentations on the performance and progress of their respective departments.

They highlighted implementation status, physical, and financial achievements under various centrally-sponsored schemes, GoI-supported and UT-specific schemes, including PM-Kisan, RKVY, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, rural infrastructure initiatives under MGNREGA, PMAY-G, NRLM, and PMAY.

Key performance indicators, success stories from field-level beneficiaries, and the use of digital governance tools for real-time monitoring were also showcased.

The meeting broadly reviewed sectoral achievements, discussed bottlenecks, and chalked out action plans to accelerate progress in both the agriculture and rural development sectors.