Mechanisation in Asom failure due to manmade weaknesses: CAG

Guwahati Apr 6 (UNI) The Asom government's aim of mechanisation in the agricultural providing implements, power tillers and tractors to farmers failed because of ''inbuilt manmade but avoidable weaknesses'', a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said.

The report for 2005-06 has found deficiencies in implementation of all the schemes under agricultural engineering, despite the fact that the state's working population in agricultural sector contributes 30.09 per cent to net State Domestic Product at current prices.

''The departmental workshops meant for production of agricultural implements suffered from lack of infrastructure and modern machinery. There was virtually no activity under different schemes due to funds constraint,'' it stated.

While there were no activities under the schemes of Land Reclamation, Micro Watershed Management and Agro Service Centres, salaries were paid to the staff without any work, except for those engaged in externally aided projects, the report mentioned.

Pointing out to the discrepancies, the CAG report said, ''Out of 143 tractors and 12 bulldozers maintained in the state for custom service tractorisation, only 38 tractors and seven bulldozers were in working condition.'' ''Out of the 49 tractors and seven bulldozers maintained in six out of seven divisions, only six tractors and three bulldozers were in working condition. For these working tractors and bulldozers 52 tractor operators and 40 assistant tractor operators were on roll,'' the report added.

In seven selected districts of the state, out of 112 threshers procured under externally-aided project (ARIASP) for distribution to farmers, only 11 threshers could be distributed to farmers.

Tha report said that in Dhubri district, out of 3,950 pump sets distributed to farmers under the externally aided projects, 494 sets were still not commissioned resulting in avoidable blocking of funds amounting to Rs 47.78 lakh.

The inability of the Agriculture department to accelerate mechanisation by adopting modern method as envisaged in the agricultural schemes is one of the reasons for non-enhancement of area under cultivation and non-increase of crop production.

In fact, the CAG stated, there was a decline both in area under cultivation and agricultural production.

The quantity of the food production in 2001-02 in the state was 40.23 lakh tonnes, which came down to 36.17 lakh tonnes in 2004-05, the CAG said.

The government should be clear about the objectives of the schemes under agricultural engineering and take appropriate steps for their implementation and revival/continuance, it recommended.

It also suggested that adequate training infrastructure and their optimum utilisation for gainful use and popularisation of the agricultural implements should be ensured.

About 75 per cent of the population in Asom is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture and about 69 per cent of the workforce is actually engaged in agricultural activities.

UNI