Dr Jitendra inspects the Solar Plant, Exhibition themes to be put at Palli Panchayat

SAMBA : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today visited the site to inspect trial run of the newly installed Solar Plant at Palli Panchayat and also inspected the arrangements being made for exhibition stall being installed by different departments.

The Minister was accompanied by Jugal Kishor Sharma, Member of Parliament and Chetan Prakash Jain, CMD, Central Electronics Limited (CEL), a PSE under the Union Ministry of Science & Technology which had taken the responsibility of installing a solar plant at a short notice on the eve of Prime Minister’s visit.

A team of around a dozen senior scientists and senior officers from the Union Ministry of Science & Technology were also present at the site during the Minister’s visit.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said with this Solar Plant which is becoming functional, the village with about 340 households will become carbon-free. He informed that 500 Kilowatt Solar Plant at Palli Panchayat in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir has been completed in a record time and is ready to become functional.

The successful trial run of the Solar Plant was demonstrated to Dr Jitendra Singh at the site and the Minister complimented the engineers of Central Electronics Limited and senior scientists and senior officers of the Union Ministry of Science & Technology for installation of the project in a record time and making it fully functional.

Dr Jitendra Singh added that the 500 Kilowatt Solar Plant is installed on a total area of 6,408 square metres and was completed in a record time of 20 days that will provide clean electricity and light to 340 households in the Panchayat.

He said a 25- member team was working round the clock to complete the Rs 2.75 crore project. He said the electricity generated will be distributed to the village, having a daily requirement of about 2,000 units through the local grid power station.

In addition to that around 20 Stalls at the Exhibition venue of the VVIP programme are being put up by various departments and wings of the Union Ministry of Science & Technology, which will display latest technologies and innovations beneficial for rural areas and farming.

Dr Jitendra Singh informed that some of the themes identified as poverty and enhanced village livelihood, Healthy village, Child-friendly village, Water sufficient village, Clean and green village, Self-sufficient infrastructure in village, Engendered development in village to be implemented by different departments of Science Ministries will bring about revolutionary transformation in augmenting the household income of the rural populace.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that stalls demonstrating best practices in Agriculture, be it DBTs Bio-Tech Kisan Scheme, Drone farming will be supplemented by Centre’s and UT Government’s innovative initiatives for the welfare of farmers.

He said stalls exhibiting Aroma Mission & Purple Revolution Floriculture mission, modern uses of Bamboo, wastewater management will also be set up.

Similarly, the Minister said, Stalls showcasing integration of Science & Technology with the themes of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj will be put up for the benefit of common man. He added that instead of having conventional stalls at the event; efforts are being made to showcase latest technology which can add value to farmers’ income and science-based demonstration with Panchayati Raj features.

It is worth to mention that Panchayat Palli in Samba district has been selected for the Panchayati Raj Diwas function this year and an exhibition showcasing latest innovations will be put up enabling farmers, sarpanchs and village heads to improve their income and their produce.

Amongst important innovation that are planned to be showcased, are geospatial technology for rural development and farmers, apps usable by farmers for weather forecast for five days, lavender cultivation famously known as purple revolution, biotechnology innovation to increase produce of apple at the same land to increase farmers’ income, drone application for pesticide spray and waste treatment, shelf life of fruits to be increased through atomic radiation etc.