PUDUCHERRY: A monthly assistance of Rs 4,000 would be provided to children orphaned after Covid-19 through the Central Government’s Non Institutional Care Scheme, for supporting their educational needs, Puducherry Minister for Agriculture, Women and Children, Social Welfare C Djeacoumar said during the Assembly session on Monday.
Replying to the demand for grants for the departments under him, Djeacoumar said that 416 children lost at least one parent due to the pandemic in Puducherry. Among them, those from BPL families studying in government schools would be provided the monthly assistance as scholarships. Besides this, a new scheme to provide agricultural labourers with rain relief of Rs 1000 per month would also be implemented from November, added the minister.
To ensure that farmers in Puducherry and Karaikal receive the Minimum Support Price (MSP) set by the central government for their paddy crops, the government has proposed procuring 30,000 metric tonnes (MT) of paddy—20,000 MT from Puducherry and 10,000 MT from Karaikal—through the Food Corporation of India (FCI). To cover the additional costs required to meet the minimum quality standards, a subsidy of Rs 2 per kg has been allocated for 2024-25.
The Puducherry government will also offer a 70% subsidy in addition to the 30% subsidy provided under the PM-KUSUM scheme to install solar-powered agricultural pump sets. This initiative will be piloted with 100 farmers, with an allocation of Rs 5.10 crore. These solar-powered pumps will not only supply free electricity but also offer farmers an opportunity to generate income by selling surplus electricity.
Under the “En Veedu, En Nalam” (My House, My Welfare) initiative, a maximum of Rs 4000 will be provided for setting up vegetable and nutritive gardens in government schools.
The government has revised the eligibility criteria for subsidies on tube well construction, reducing the land ceiling from 1.5 acres to 1 acre for general farmers and from 1 acre to 0.5 acre for scheduled category farmers.
Additionally, the subsidy for laying ISI-quality PVC underground irrigation pipes has been increased from Rs 30,000 to Rs 45,000 per hectare.