Haryana seeks Centre’s help to resolve SYL issue
At Niti Aayog meeting, CM Khattar also suggests that the Centre should incentivise state collecting maximum goods and services tax
CHANDIGARH: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday sought the Union government’s intervention in resolving the long-pending issue of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) and Hansi-Butana Link canal so that the state could get its legitimate share of river water.
“To overcome the water shortage problem in the state, the government will soon be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the Kishau dam. Besides this, MoUs have already been signed with the Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh governments for the Lakhwar and Renuka dam,” Khattar said during the sixth governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing.
Apprising the Prime Minister
of the steps taken by the state to promote water conservation, Khattar said that at present, large parts of the state are in the dark zone and if the SYL and Hansi-Butana Link Canal issue is resolved, Haryana’s problem of water scarcity will be addressed.
Highlighting the fact that though in GST collection, Haryana is at the forefront but despite that due to input tax credit, the state gets only 20% GST, the chief minister urged the Prime Minister to formulate a plan for incentivising states having the maximum GST collection. He said efforts are on for the successful implementation of the first of its kind Parivar Pehchan Patra scheme to ensure that the person standing last in the queue gets the benefit of government schemes.
He said at present, export business worth Rs 85,000 crore is being done, which includes basmati and automobile parts.
Agricultural reforms
Khattar said that for promoting agriculture, aligning cropping system to agro-climatic conditions at district levels is being done for optimum resource use. He said under Mera Pani Meri Virasat scheme, alternative crops like maize, cotton, bajra, pulses, vegetables, and fruits were being grown. Rs 7, 000 is being given as incentive to farmers for adopting crop diversification, said the chief minister.
He said for water conservation, Haryana water resource authority and Haryana pond and wastewater management authority have been constituted. Khatar said at present, Haryana is giving the highest price of Rs 350 per quintal to sugarcane farmers. Apart from this, various crops such as gram, mustard, sunflower, bajra and maize are being procured on MSP by the state government, he added.
While 17, 216 hectares has been brought under fish culture which has produced 1.91 lakh MT fish in the state, production of white shrimp in saline affected areas is becoming popular.
He said the state government has planned to convert paddy straw into compressed biogas and for this, 100 compressed biogas (CBG) plant will be set up in the first phase with the help from Centre. He said that to further strengthen the storage system after harvesting, warehouses will be set up under the warehousing scheme, which will be notified as deemed mandis so that the produce can be sold from these mandis.