Minister for Animal, Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries Abdul Gani Kohli today inspected Fish Farm, Nowabad here. He also laid foundation of Inspection Hut at the said Fish Farm. The Hut is being constructed by the Fisheries Department at an estimated cost of Rs 78 lakh.Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said the Government is committed to upgrade the fisheries sector in the State. He said several initiatives have been taken in this regard and the unemployed youth and other interested persons are being given full support by the Government to set up fish farms for income generation.Terming unemployment as the biggest challenge for the Government, the Minister said that several schemes have been launched to create employment avenues for the youth. “Skill development is one such initiative aimed at enhancing the skills of the youth for greater employability,” he said and urged the youth to take benefit of such schemes.Briefing the Minister about the activities of the Fisheries Department, the officers informed him that 952 carp and 388 trout units have been established in private sector in the State while 51 trout and 19 carp farms are functional in the Government sector.He was informed that Fry seed is being distributed among the farmers as per the requirement.
He was also informed during the current year the department has produced 6.20 lakh Fry at Nowabad Farm which was passed on to other districts for further distribution among the unit holders.To meet the seed demands of Jammu division, Nowabad Fish Farm was earlier Seed Transit Unit and later on the Chinese Hatchery was established and the Carp seed including Indian Major and Chinese Carp is now being produced at the farm, the Minister was informed.Earlier, the Minister took stock of the functioning of the Nowabad Farm and reviewed working of various divisions of the Camp Office.The Minister asked the concerned to redouble their efforts and work with utmost dedication and to achieve the targets fixed in full in a stipulated time frame.Mr. Kohli also instructed the concerned Executing Agencies to speed up the pace of work on the construction of Farm Hut and complete the project with a period of one year. He also asked them to make judicious use of funds and standard material to ensure quality of work.MLA, Jammu East Rajesh Gupta, Director Fisheries R K Dogra and other officers of the fisheries department were present on the occasion.