Ranchi Feb 27 PTI Promising all help and support to people from Jharkhand mostly students trapped in Ukraine Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday announced that the state will reimburse the airfare of those who are returning from the war-torn country on personal expensesThe Jharkhand government has set up a control room to help families of the students and workers stuck in Ukraine as part of an effort to bring them back homeIn the midst of the impasse in Ukraine the Jharkhand government will reimburse the ticket fare of the citizens returning to Jharkhand on personal expenses Chief Minister Soren announcedAccording to information received from different districts more than 100 students from Jharkhand are now stuck in UkraineThe state government along with the Central government is working to provide all possible help to the people of the state the chief minister said in a tweetThe Jharkhand government had helped its stranded citizens return home by air or train from other states during the coronavirus-induced lockdown PTI NAM MM MM

Ranchi Nov 22 PTI All products made by women self-help groups in Jharkhand under the brand name Palash will be available on e-shopping platforms soon the Jharkhand government said on Monday At present only select Palash products are sold by e-commerce companies Honey pickles candles chocolates of Palash brand will be available at an affordable price on Amazon while cold-pressed mustard oil is already available on Flipkart a statement issued by the state government said It is estimated that almost 2 lakh rural women will get additional livelihood opportunities through this move the statement said Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society JSLPS an arm of the state Rural Development department which owns the Palash brand has partnered with e-commerce companies like Amazon and Flipkart to leverage a larger market base and create an additional source of income for women members of JSLPS With the vision of connecting lakhs of women members of SHGs across the state to a sustainable livelihood solution Chief Minister Hemant Soren had launched the Palash brand under JSLPS Also this was aimed at creating entrepreneurship opportunities for them After putting multiple efforts towards branding and marketingit has started to yield positive results the statement said At present over 60 products under the Palash brand are available in the market All the products offered for sale are prepared naturally by the sisters of Sakhi Mandals women self-help groups A memorandum of understanding has been signed with Amazon and Flipkart to place Palash brand products in the larger market it said Through this initiative select products are currently available on Amazon and Flipkart while all Palash products will be listed in the coming days With this move we expect a significant rise in the income of the Sakhi Mandal Didis Manish Ranjan Secretary Rural Development Department said In the future the department is working to make available these products in Reliance Stores as well to get more customers the official said PTI NAM MM MM

Ranchi Oct 27 PTI The Jharkhand government will spend about Rs 144 crore for augmenting irrigation facilities like enhancing the availability of water harvesting and restoration work of waterbodies an official said When completed the initiative will result in an increase of irrigated areas to 13365 hectares from the present 2207 hectares in the state Work is being done to increase the availability of water harvesting and irrigation in the state The Irrigation Department has approved the restoration work of 192 ponds dams and other waterbodies at an estimated cost of Rs 14368 crore the official said The government has kickstarted Nilambar-Pitamber Jal Samridhi Yojana to accelerate water harvesting and conservation the official said Renovation works have been started to harness hundred per cent capacity of all the ponds dams and waterbodies related to irrigation schemes PTI NAM MM MM

Ranchi Oct 25 PTI The Jharkhand government on Monday said it is focusing on adopting renewable energy to boost income of farmers and curb their migration to other states With this over 6000 families have already benefitted in the state With farmers at the centre of the development process Jharkhand is working tirelessly to ensure availability of year-round irrigation facilities across the state Given this the state government is installing solar-based lift irrigation facilities in the districts a statement issued by the state government said Initially the government is installing this facility in those parts of the state where water is not available throughout the year for irrigation due to inhospitable terrain the statement said The examples of Bokaro Latehar and Simdega districts were cited in the statement The Bokaro district administration has brought 500 acres of land under the solar lift irrigation facility benefitting about 480 farming households The statement said apart from employment at the local steel plant as daily wage labourers a substantial part of the population in Bokaro district is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood Since a major part of farmland is used only during the rainy season for paddy cultivation the administration has installed many solar lift irrigation pumps in the district therefore ensuring year-round availability of water for irrigation it said Forty-eight pump sets with a capacity of 5HP each are being installed to cover 500 acres of land Deputy Commissioner Bokaro Kuldeep Chowdhary said it is a mineral-rich area and one of the most industrialised districts of Jharkhand but with a substantial part of the population also dependent on agriculture the land yields only one crop a year due to the unavailability of modern irrigation facilities The official said to ensure multi-crop farming in the district the administration is installing 48 solar pump units for the lift irrigation facility out of which over 20 units are functional and work for the remaining part will be done in due course Also we are working on the implementation of solar-based mobile irrigation units across different parts of the district This will help marginal farmers farmers who work in small clusters or hilly terrain Apart from this we are also working on the utilisation of abandoned mines for irrigation purposes the Bokaro deputy commissioner was quoted as saying in the statement Latehar and Simdega districts have also adopted the same technique to benefit farmers and promote multiple crop cultivation In Latehar more than 1000 acres of land have been covered under a solar lift irrigation facility with 100 units whereas over 105 solar-based lift irrigation systems have been installed in Simdega helping almost 5000 families the statement said PTI NAM MM MM

Ranchi Aug 24 PTI The Jharkhand Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to increase house rent allowance for government employees as per the revised rates recommended by the 7th Pay Commission a move that will cost Rs 116 crore to the state exchequer annually a state government spokesperson said This is in line with the House Rent Allowance HRA hike given to Central government employees With effect from July 1 2021 the rates of house rent allowance for X Y and Z category cities will be revised to 27 per cent 18 per cent and 9 per cent of the basic pay respectively if dearness allowance to state government employees exceeds 25 per cent the spokesperson said after the Cabinet meeting Approval has also been given to increase the rates of dearness allowance to state government employees in the unrevised pay scale with effect from July 1 2021 The cabinet also gave its nod to the Contract Based Appointment Rules 2021 to fill up vacant posts of professors and associate professors in government medical colleges This apart approval was given for setting up Jharkhand State Open University for imparting education through distance education Meanwhile a statement said that approval has been given for providing fresh meals including eggs to children between 3 and 6 years at Anganwadi centres It was also decided to establish a Pharma Park at Barhe Bijupara in Ranchi district by Jharkhand Industrial Area Development Authority at a total project cost of Rs 3494 crore Approval was also given for some road projects in the state PTI NAM MM MM