Not to be published or broadcast before  11 th  January, 2010

               Putting agriculture on the road to diversification and generating more avenues of income for the farmers of the State, Himachal Pradesh Government, in the last two years has taken some decisive measures to give a leg-up to Pisciculture and dairy farming. All kinds of incentives are being provided to the farmers to take to these two alternative modes for supplementing their income. 
                 Realising the role of livestock in agrarian economy, State government has launched Rs 300 crore "Doodh Ganga" scheme, which has extensive provision for formation of self-help groups, liberal loan disbursal and other incentives and facilities. Special emphasis is being laid on the health of cattle, improving livestock breed and strengthening the marketing infrastructure. The scheme will benefit 50,000 rural families with the formation of 10,000 self-help groups. In the last two years, a sum of Rs. 127 crore has been spent on various animal husbandry schemes.
               The Shepherd Insurance Scheme, sponsored by the Central Wool Development Board, has also been launched. Against the target of 15,000 shepherds to be covered under the scheme, 8,000 have already been insured. Registration of Cattle scheme is also being implemented in six districts, namely, Solan, Shimla, Chamba, Hamirpur, Una and Kangra. So far, 11.2 lakh heads of cattle have been registered under this scheme. The livestock census work has also been completed.
              Computerization of data is nearing completion and would be made available online soon. A semen bank is being set up at Tal in Hamirpur District, under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna. A sum of Rs 1.6 crore has been sanctioned for the construction of new building of veterinary hospitals.
              The State Government has submitted a Rs 20-crore project to the Central Government for giving boost to diary development activities under the National Agriculture Development Scheme.
               In order to encourage pisciculture, several varieties of fish have been introduced in the rivers and artificial and natural reservoirs in the State.
              With a view to promote fisheries, a number of schemes have been launched in the past two years. All fishermen working in reservoirs have been insured for Rs. 25,000 in case of permanent disability; and Rs. 50,000 in case of death under the Fisherman Accidental Insurance Scheme. The insurance premium of Rs 14 is equally shared by the Central and the State Governments. Insurance cover was provided to 6,560 active fishermen in the year  2008-09.
              The Government has launched the ‘Fishermen Relief Fund Scheme’, formulated to mitigate the losses to the fishermen. Each reservoir fisherman contributes Rs 6 every year to this fund. A ‘Contributory Saving-cum-Relief Scheme’ has also been introduced for fishermen under which as many as 2,446 active fishermen have been provided benefits to the tune of Rs. 13 lakh. More than 6795 fishermen have been provided full-time employment in major reservoirs of the State.
                 Work is in progress on the unique Mahashir Farm at Machyal in Mandi district, which would give boost to river angling sports besides increasing fish production in the State. In the last two years, 10,239 tonnes of fish has been produced earning the exchequer revenue of Rs 282.14 lakh.