New Delhi, Jan 4 The growth rate of the agriculture sector and allied sectors is expected to be between 3.5 per cent and 4 per cent in 2025, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Saturday.

In a review meeting of various schemes with the state/UT ministers in the national capital, Chouhan said that in the New Year with new resolutions, “we will take forward the work of agricultural development and farmer welfare at a fast pace”.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said from the Red Fort last year that I will work with three times the strength in the third term. We should also resolve that we will work with our full potential,” the Union Minister said during the meeting. “Under the leadership of PM Modi, we have a six-point strategy for farmer welfare and development in the agriculture sector,” he added.

The Agriculture Ministry is working in several directions like micro-irrigation schemes, mechanisation, use of technology and new agricultural methods. “We are working on reducing the cost of production to increase income rapidly,” he said.

As part of the ‘PM Kisan Samman Nidhi’ scheme, Rs 3.46 lakh crore has been distributed to 11 crore farmers in 18 instalments to date.

“More than 25 lakh eligible farmers were added in the first 100 days of PM Modi’s third term. The number of people taking benefit of the 18th instalment increased to 9.58 crore,” Chouhan said.

The ‘PM Crop Insurance Scheme’ is the world’s largest crop insurance scheme.

“In this, loanee applications are 876 lakh and non-loanee applications are 552 lakh. A total of 14.28 crore farmers have applied, 602 lakh hectare area is insured, and the gross insured amount is Rs 2,73,049 crore,” the Agriculture Minister said.

Four crore farmers have benefited from the scheme. Since the inception of the scheme, Rs 17,000 crore has been given to farmers in the form of claims, he added.

The Union Cabinet on January 1 decided that the provision of Rs 66,000 crore in the crop insurance scheme has been increased to more than Rs 69,000 crore.

“Fertiliser subsidy like DAP will now be available at the price of Rs 1,350 per 50 kg bag and a provision of Rs 3,800 crore has been made for this,” said the minister.

Chouhan said it is also necessary to pay attention to the legalisation of crops and states are also making better efforts in this direction.

Srinagar, Jan 4: Four army soldiers died and and one injured in a road accident in J&K’s Bandipora district on Saturday. Initial reports said that Army vehicle veered off the road suddenly and dropped into a deep gorge in Saderkoot Payeen area.

Five army soldiers were injured in this accident. They were immediately shifted to a nearby hospital where attending doctors said two soldiers were dead on arrival.

Three critically injured soldiers were bring shifted to Srinagar for specialised treatment.

”Two injured soldiers also succumbed to injuries, taking the death toll in this road accident to four. The condition of one injured soldier is still stated to be critical by attending doctors”, officials said.

It must be mentioned that the army, police and security forces in J&K are maintaining heightened vigil after terrorists carried out some dastardly attacks after the peaceful, people participative Lok Sabha and legislative assembly elections here.

Intelligence agencies say the peaceful conduct of elections witnessed by diplomats of many countries has frustrated the handlers of terror sitting across the border in Pakistan. As per the intelligence agencies, these handlers have directed terrorists to give the ‘dying terrorism’ its last push in the UT.

Months ago, two terrorists including a foreign mercenary and a local terrorist fired indiscriminately inside the workers camp in Gagangir area of Ganderbal district on October 20, leaving seven civilians including six non-local workers of an infrastructure company and a local doctor killed in Gagangir attack. On October 24, 2024, terrorists ambushed an army vehicle in Botapathri area of Gulmarg hill station.

Three army soldiers and two civilian porters were killed in Botapathri attack. Again on November 2, terrorists hurled a grenade at the busy Sunday Market near the tourist reception centre (TRC) in Srinagar. A 42-year old woman, mother of three children was killed and 9 civilians injured in that grenade attack.

After these dastardly, terror attacks, security forces have been aggressively carrying out anti-terrorist operations under the clear orders from the Lt governor Manoj Sinha. The Lt governor has directed the security forces to dismantle the terror ecosystem by eliminating terrorists, their over ground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers.

New Delhi, Jan 4: The New Delhi District Election Officer (DEO) on Saturday dismissed as baseless the allegation made by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh claiming that the poll office did not provide details of people who had sought the cutting of names of bogus voters, including his wife.

In a post on X, Sunny Kumar Singh, New Delhi DEO, claimed that the summary of Form 7, which includes the names of both the objectors and objectees, is shared with all recognised political parties, including AAP, on a weekly basis through Form 10.

“Additionally, this information is uploaded on the official website of CEO Delhi for public access and transparency. Hence, the statement that objectors’ names are not being shared is factually incorrect,” said the DEO.

Sharing a copy of Form 10, the DEO said the process of deleting any names from the electoral roll is carried out strictly in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India.

The process starts with the filing of form 7 and in all such cases, a thorough field verification is conducted by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs), BLO supervisors, and other officers as per prescribed norms. Mere submitting a list for deletion doesn’t start the deletion process, said the DEO.

Sharing details of the case related to Sanjay Singh’s wife, Anita, the DEO said two separate Forms 7 applications were filed for the deletion of her name.

Upon field verification, the BLO found her residing at the given address, and both Form 7 applications were rejected.

Additionally, an FIR was lodged against the objectors for wrongful filing of Form 7.

In several other cases, Form 7 applications for deletion of names have been rejected after due process and field verification. Each application is scrutinised individually and rejected on merit if found invalid.

The allegation that the DEO, New Delhi, is deliberately deleting the names of genuine electors is entirely baseless and unsubstantiated, he said.

“All deletions are carried out in strict compliance with ECI norms to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the electoral roll. The District Election Office remains committed to upholding the principles of transparency, fairness, and accountability in the preparation and maintenance of the electoral rolls. Any attempt to mislead the public with baseless claims will be addressed firmly to protect the credibility of the election process as per the rules,” he said.

On Friday, Sanjay Singh levelled serious allegations against the BJP, accusing it of deleting voters’ names from the electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.

He claimed that the BJP was attempting to manipulate the voters’ list, targeting long-time residents and women whose votes were reportedly cancelled.

Sanjay Singh allegedly provided evidence to support his accusations, stating, “I will give you this voters’ list and I have also presented before you the list of women whose votes have been cancelled by the BJP.

“These women have lived here for 30-40 years, they got married, raised their children here, and now their votes are being cancelled. They are doing these things in the area where former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is contesting elections. So, this is a clear indication that the BJP has already lost the election and is resorting to electoral scams to secure a win.”