Ques. for Mains - Q1. Analyze the need & importance of recently launched ‘Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojana’.
Dr Jitendra Singh on 18.october.2014 launched ‘Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojana’ under which the CSIR (Council for Scientific & Industrial Research), affiliated with the Ministry of Science & Technology. This Yojana will identify thousand villages in Jammu & Kashmir for the growth of aromatic plants with active participation of local farmers and owners of the land. The Government will initially spend over Rs.25 crores on this scheme in addition to technical support by a team of CSIR scientists.
This scheme is a new concept whereby the agricultural land with the potential for growth of aromatic plants will be identified and CSIR scientists as well as aroma experts from different parts of the country will educate and train the local farmers to bring up this cultivation. This will not only enable the local farmers to usher in a new area of cultivation but will also prove economically beneficial to them.
One of the important reasons to start this new scheme from Jammu region was that the IIIM (Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine), Jammu has been actively pursuing research and production of aromatic medicinal and perfumery products for several decades and some of the products produced from this laboratory are of international export quality. Nine varieties of scientifically tested and commercially beneficial plant saplings will be provided by IIIM Jammu and under the guidance CSIR experts, the project will start from the border district of Kathua.