The Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary who was on two day visit to Shopian visited Fruit & Vegetable Mandi Agler Shopian and interacted with the Fruit Growers Association, Progressive Orchardists and farmers today.Deputy Commissioner Shopian, Sachin Kumar Vaishya, SSP, Amritpaul Singh, Director Marketing & Planning, Vishesh Mahajin, Additional Deputy Commissioner Shopian, Mushtaq Ahmed Simnani and other senior officers were present on the occasion.The representative of Fruit Growers Association put forth some issues and demands which include Flood Protection Wall, National Highway Status for Fruit Mandi etc. The Minister was apprised that the Mandi provides employment at least to 10000 unemployed youth but the need of the hour is to develop it further. The said fruit and vegetable Mandi Agler is expanded over 300 Kanals of land.Addressing the gathering, Shri Kailash Choudhary expressed his gratitude for being among the people of Shopian. Terming Kashmir as a paradise on earth, he said that the Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making all efforts to keep its essence intact by providing overall development of the area, especially the hilly district Shopian.“All the requests, issues and grievances projected by the orchardists have been taken note of and the same would be taken up at Union level as well as with Lieutenant Governor for redressal,” Shri Kailash Choudhary added.He assured that hilly tourism, eco-tourism and horticulture tourism will be taken up on priority.Kailash said that the damage caused due to the recent snowfall to the orchards, the orchardists would get compensation against the damage after proper survey of damaged apple orchards by a team of revenue officers of the district.
Addressing the gathering, he said that there was a time when people could not imagine that villages will get quality roads as it was a difficult task. He hailed the vision of PM and said that he is determined to complete this difficult task and it is his vision and efforts that today roads are being constructed across the district.The Minister highlighted the importance of roads in bringing about all round positive development and empowering the villages.Earlier, MoS interacted with Youth Club Members at Circuit House Shopian, who raised various issues and demands for early redressal. The union minister listened them patiently and assured that every possible step would be taken in solving their problems.During his interaction with youth from different areas of the district, MoS said that an indigeneous mechanism has been established to address the needs of youth. He said that only youth can bring change in any sphere of life and without their participation transformation is quite impossible.MoS further stated that Youth Clubs are necessary and stressed the need for engaging youth of Shopian and making them equal partners in the development of stability and sustainability of a prosperous district and said that the Government has included the young generation in the development process so that they can actively participate in designing the path to transform the entire community.The Union Minister stated that the Government of India and the UT Government under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is providing a vibrant medium for engagement and empowerment of youth, so the need of the hour is that youth should come forward and avail of the benefits of the schemes launched by the Government in this section by establishing Units to be able to earn and live a luxurious life with dignity.