Lt. Governor Appeals Tribal Captains to Strive Hard to Achieve More Yield Beyond Local Consumption
Port Blair, Aug. 8: The Lt Governor, Lt. Gen. Bhopinder Singh today launched the first ever Fruit and Vegetable Mission at Tamalu Village in Car Nicobar this morning. Launching Mission, the Lt Governor said the island administration realized the health problems faced by the tribal people, especially the high prevalence of heart diseases among the people due to their dietary habit, which lacks the essential fruits and vegetables. To popularize the fruit and vegetable consumption as part of the dietary habit of the tribals, besides promoting vegetable and fruit cultivation in large scale, the Mission has been launched in all the 15 villages of Car Nicoabr.
The LG further said that the mission will generate more employment avenues for the local people under the land mark MGNREGA programme. Expressing happiness over the remarkable talents of the tribal youths, the Lt Governor appealed them not to indulge in unwanted activities and utilize their talents in constructive manner.
He said the administration will extend all necessary support including provision of high quality seeds, saplings etc. for the mission, but the success of the mission will be in the hands of the people concerned. He said the mission would be success, if it achieves the goal of attractive revenue generation through better marketing strategies. He also appealed to the tribals to strive hard to make the mission a grand success, by achieving more yield beyond the local consumption level and thereby generating more income for their tribal community.
Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary for Agriculture, Shri A. Daggar said the mission is aimed at improving the health status of the tribal people through balanced diet in view of high prevalence of heart diseases among them. He also revealed that the administration has planned to bring Jersy cows and Malabar goats from the main land for the development of animal husbandry in the tribal islands.
Besides, the administration will provide free boats to all the seven tribal councils in the district to enable the people engage in deep sea fishing. He further informed that the administration provides 75 % subsidy for purchase of fishing boats, and any interested individual may avail of this opportunity to get fishing boat with attractive subsidy.
During the launching ceremony, the Lt Governor distributed the fruits and vegetables kit to the tribal people, besides handing over the copies of the publication on the Mission to the Vice Chairman of Tribal Council, Shri Chamberlain Paul. On the Occasion, he released a documentary film on Coconut Mission in Nicobar produced by the Films Division of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
The Lt Governor also visited the nearby demonstration plot and planted a tomato sapling there. He also advised the Agriculture officials to promote the indigenous plant Papaya also in the current mission, as the islands papayas are known for its superior quality with extra sweet.
While interacting with the tribal women there, the LG asked them to develop small kitchen garden in each and every household to fulfill their immediate needs. He also suggested that the agriculture department should provide necessary inputs for developing the Kitchen garden in every house hold, besides announcing the prize scheme to select and award the best maintained kitchens in each village.
Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner of Nicobar, Shri T Jawahar briefed on the objective of the mission in his introductory address.
The Deputy Vice Chief of Tribal Council, Shri Cepas Jack also spoke on the occasion. The Secretary of Information, Publicity and Tourism, Sathish Mathur and Director of Agriculture, M. A. Salam also participated in the programme.
A large number of tribal people from different islands, besides the officials from agriculture and other departments attended the programme.