Foundation day of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) being celebrated tomorrow on the occasion of Antyodaya Diwas - “Kaushal Se Kal Badlenge ” Posted On: 24 SEP 2020 9:48PM by PIB Delhi

25th September, 2014 was declared the ‘Antyodaya Diwas’ in honour of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s 98th Birth Anniversary.

It was the same day when the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) revamped it’s existing skill development program called Aajeevika Skills as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) which emphasized on greater access, coverage and quality.

In doing so, MoRD has used its knowledge gained over 15 years in implementing skill training programs. DDU-GKY is now a demand driven placement-linked skilling initiative which seeks to enable rural poor youth to benefit from national and international employment opportunities.

The spirit of Antyodaya Mission lies in ‘reaching out to the last person’. Ministry of Rural Development is also working towards this motto through reaching to all eligible rural youths of India. Over the period of time, DDU GKY has proven to be an effective rural development initiative for rural youths by providing both market linked skilling and sustainable wage employment opportunities.

Therefore working towards this motto and to commemorate Antyodaya Diwas 2020, MoRD is celebrating this day for Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) with their skilled and enthusiastic beneficiaries and other stakeholders spread across the country. During this pandemic time, MoRD is virtually celebrating this auspicious day with all States/UTs, Project Implementing Agencies, Employers and rural youths from all over the country.

Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj and Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of State of Rural Development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti will grace the occasion along with the senior officers of the State governments, State Mission Directors of SRLM and Skill Missions. All are requested to join this celebration of the wonderful journey of DDU GKY.

Agricultural mechanization must suit the requirements of small and marginal farmers - Shri Narendra Singh Tomar Posted On: 24 SEP 2020 4:18PM by PIB Delhi

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar today launched in the public domain, the “Centralized Farm Machinery Performance Testing Portal” which has been developed by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare as a further step to improve services of farm machinery testing institutions and bringing out transparency in the entire process of testing and evaluation of machines.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that the Government under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is fully committed to the welfare of farmers and development of the agriculture sector. Budget allocation of the agriculture sector has also been considerably increased in keeping with this commitment of the government.

Shri Tomar said that there has been significant increase in adoption of agricultural machines which has resulted in the phenomenal expansion of cropped area, cropping diversity and the country’s agricultural production. Further to promote agricultural mechanization, the Union Agriculture Minister appealed to industry representatives to design farm equipment which can be utilized in cost effective manner by small and marginal farmers.

This portal will facilitate manufacturers in applying, communicating and monitoring the progress of testing of their machines in a seamless manner as it is easily accessible from any location and from any device connected to the Internet.

It offers the possibility of integrated management in a unified manner within the organization and thus will help in improving the efficiency of the testing institutes thereby reducing testing time for various agricultural machines and equipments. This portal offers following benefits to the users viz manufacturers, FMTTIS and the DAC&FW:

In line with Government Policy of “Ease of Doing Business”,this would facilitate applying for testing of machinery online. Ensure Transparency in the entire processes of testing. Faster Feedback Help in Reducing testing Time Reduced Business Expenses of Agricultural Manufacturers

Testing Efficiency Improvement Thoroughness in Testing Flexible Access – Officers concerned at Ministry and manufacturers can monitor testing activities from anywhere with internet access.

Agricultural mechanization is a central indispensable support to make farm operations efficient and productive. It contributes in increasing the efficiency and productivity of all direct as well as indirect inputs used in the crop production system besides, reduction in drudgery associated with various farm operations.

The programs and schemes of the Government of India on farm mechanization have resulted in progressive increase in the availability of farm power per unit area for performing various agricultural operations.The shift has also helped in diversification of agriculture from conventional crops to commercial crops.

Testing of farm machines is important aspect of agricultural mechanization which benefits both buyers i.e. farmers as well as to the manufacturers of agricultural machinery. Testing and evaluation of agricultural machinery encourages improvement in quality and functional suitability.

Comparable data for similar machines is available to manufacturers, which help them in improving the design of their product and open up avenues in commercialization of agricultural machinery not only on national level but also Globally.

Recognizing the importance of testing and evaluation of agricultural machinery and to meet the increasing demand for testing, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare in addition to the existing four Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institutes, has identified and authorized 35 institutions under the State Agricultural Universities, Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the State Governments.