Sham lays foundation of vented causeway, school building

Excelsior Correspondent
AKHNOOR, Feb 24: Carrying forward the process of development and upgradation of educational infrastructure in the rural areas, Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Sham Lal Sharma today laid foundation stone of one 17 meter span vented causeway and accommodation for newly upgraded high school at village Barui, near here.
The causeway would be constructed over a main nullah at village Barui to cost Rs. 57 lakh and will benefit a number of villages. Similarly, the school accommodation which comprises 8 rooms and one toilet block will cost Rs. 39.91 lakh. The project has been taken under RMSA.
On the occasion, the J&K Grameen Bank also organized a mega awareness camp to highlight the bank schemes and benefits of Kissan Credit Cards (KCC). The Minister distributed 777 KCCs amongst the farmers of Barui and Kandi panchayats.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that Government was committed to provide better services to the people of rural areas with special thrust to improve the road connectivity, education, health and PHE sectors. He said education is the key to development of society and nation. He said a strong network of educational institutions has been created in Akhnoor to provide this important facility to the students of rural areas at their doorsteps.
The Minister said that Government has launched several schemes for the farmers to boost agriculture production. Kissan Credit Card is the best tool to upgrade the activities and farmers must take full advantage of this facility. He said Central Government has issued special instructions to the Public Sector banks to advance maximum finance for the agricultural activities with nominal interest rate; therefore, the farmers should come forward in a big way to avail the benefits of these Central sponsored schemes.
Taking advantage of the occasion, the Minister urged the management of the Grameen Bank to open its branch at Barui village, which is solely dependent on the agricultural activities. He also urged them to adopt the village for extending special financial assistance under the goodwill gesture to transform the socio-economic conditions of the people. The management agreed both these requests of the Minister in principle and assured that the authorities will take appropriate action in near future.
The Chairman Grameen Bank, Raja Abdul Lateef highlighted the farmer friendly schemes and asked the intending beneficiaries to avail the benefits. He said presently the bank charges 7 per cent interest on various lending schemes and the beneficiaries who are efficient in repayment will be eligible for 3 per cent concession in the interest rate.
General Manager, S. S. Bloeria, Superintending Engineer, PHE (Hydraulic), Sushil Aima, SDM, Akhnoor N. S. Jamwal, Sarpanchs/Panchs, sectoral officers of various department and large number of farmers and locals were present on the occasion.