PMMSY to expedite pace of blue & white revolution in Bihar: Sushil Modi

Sushil Kumar Modi on Thursday said that schemes worth Rs 294 crore relating to Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) will expedite the pace of 'blue and white revolution' in the state

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil

Kumar Modi on Thursday said that schemes worth Rs 294 crore relating to Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana(PMMSY) launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the day will expedite the pace of 'blue and awhite revolution' in the state and help farmers double their income.

Addressing the function held on the occasion through the digital medium, he said that some of the schemes of the Yojana will be implemented by the same department which had gained notoriety for the animal husbandry scam..

The animal hubandry department has been rechristened as animal and fish resources department.

Due to the notoriety of the department and the fact that many of the ministers in charge of it had been sent to the prison, no one wanted to become the minister of the animal and fish resource department department, the deputy chief minister said. First he and later union minister Giriraj Singh had held the portfolio and revived the department.

This is evident from the fact that its budget increased by 16 times from Rs 72 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 1178 crore in 2020-21.

Speaking of the state's achievements in developing animal and fish resources, he said it had set up Bihar Animal Sciences University in Patna and is the first in the country to give scholarship of Rs 2000 to those studying veterinary science in the state. Earlier the students would quit the course midway.

Bihar's milk production has doubled in the past 13 years increasing from 57 lakh mt in 2007-08 to 104 lakh mt in 2019-20. The milk processing capacity too has increased to 33.55 lakh litres from 8.45 lakh litres during the same period.

The Bihar State Milk Co-Operative Federation Ltd has paid more than Rs 800 crore to the bank accounts of dairy farmers in the four months of coronavirus pandemic in the state.

Referring to the states fish production, he said it has increased to 6.42 lakh MT in 2019-20 from 2.88 lakh MT in 2007-08. Bihar now sells about 33,000 tonnes of fish to cities like Siliguri in West Bengal, Banaras and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Amritsar in Punjab and Nepal.

The prime minister launched and laid the foundation stones for various schemes worth Rs 294 crore of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and agriculture and fish and animal resources department in seven districts of Bihar.