Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on 24th April on the occasion of “Panchayati Raj Diwas”, the 500 Kilowatt Solar Plant at Palli Panchayat in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir has been completed in a record time and is ready to become functional.

This was stated in Samba today by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh who visited the site while inspection and trial run of the newly installed Solar Plant. He said with this Solar Plant becoming functional, the village with about 340 houses will become carbon-free.

The Minister was accompanied by Jugal Kishor Sharma, Member of Parliament and Chetan Prakash Jain, CMD, Central Electronics Limited (CEL), a PSE under the Union Ministry of Science & Technology which had taken the responsibility of installing a solar plant at a short notice on the eve of Prime Minister’s visit. A team of around a dozen senior scientists and senior officers from the Union Ministry of Science & Technology were also present at the site during the Minister’s visit.

The successful trial run of the Solar Plant was demonstrated to Dr Jitendra Singh at the site and the Minister complimented the engineers of Central Electronics Limited and senior scientists and senior officers of the Union Ministry of Science & Technology for installation of the project in a record time and making it fully functional.

Dr Jitendra Singh added that the 500 Kilowatt Solar Plant installed on a total area of 6,408 square metres was completed in a record time of 20 days that will provide clean electricity and light to 340 houses in the Panchayat. He said, a twenty-five member team was working round the clock to complete the Rs 2.75 crore project. He said the electricity generated will be distributed to the village, having a daily requirement of about 2,000 units through the local grid power station.

It may be recalled that a series of meetings were held in New Delhi between Union Ministers Dr Jitendra Singh and Shri Giriraj Singh to fine-tune Exhibition themes for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Jammu event in the last fortnight. Dr Jitendra Singh said that senior officers from different participating Ministries and Departments of Government of India that took part in the meeting included Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and six science Departments of Science & Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Biotechnology, Space, Atomic Energy and Earth Sciences.

Pertinent to mention that around 20 Stalls at the Exhibition venue of the Prime Minister's programme are being put up by various departments and wings of the Union Ministry of Science & Technology, which will display latest technologies and innovations beneficial for rural areas and farming.

Dr Jitendra Singh informed that some of the themes identified as poverty and enhanced village livelihood, Healthy village, Child-friendly village, Water sufficient village, Clean and green village, Self-sufficient infrastructure in village, Engendered development in village to be implemented by different departments of Science Ministries will bring about revolutionary transformation in augmenting the household income of the rural populace.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that stalls demonstrating best practices in Agriculture, be it DBT’s Bio-Tech Kisan Scheme, Drone farming will be supplemented by Centre’s and UT Government’s innovative initiatives for the welfare of farmers. He said, stalls exhibiting Aroma Mission & Purple Revolution Floriculture mission, modern uses of Bamboo, wastewater management will also be set up. Similarly, the Minister said, Stalls showcasing integration of Science & Technology with the themes of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj will be put up for the benefit of common man. He added that instead of having conventional stalls at the event, efforts are being made to showcase latest technology which can add value to farmers’ income and science-based demonstration with Panchayati Raj features.

Panchayat Palli in Jammu has been selected for the Panchayati Raj Diwas function this year and an exhibition showcasing latest innovations will be put up enabling farmers, sarpanchs and village heads to improve their income and their produce. Amongst important innovation that are planned to be showcased, are geospatial technology for rural development and farmers, apps usable by farmers for weather forecast for five days, lavender cultivation famously known as purple revolution, biotechnology innovation to increase produce of apple at the same land to increase farmers’ income, drone application for pesticide spray and waste treatment, shelf life of fruits to be increased through atomic radiation etc.

On the National Panchayati Raj Day, the Prime minister is scheduled to address a gathering including more than 30,000 Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) members of Jammu and Kashmir while PRIs from across the country will be connected virtually for the Prime Minister’s address.

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