BARD celebrates 35th Foundation Day

GUWAHATI, July 12: BARD celebrated its 35th Foundation Day here in the regiol office of the bank today. Agriculture minister Atul Bora graced the occasion as chief guest. V B Pyarelal, Additiol Chief Secretary and APC, Government of Assam was also present as the Guest of Honour on the occasion. Highlight of the function was deliberations on the theme of “Doubling of Farmers’ Income by 2022” and the interventions through which BARD and the State government could converge on key issues affecting agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and fruit processing. Technological interventions that would enhance productivity of the small and margil farmers along with infrastructure development focusing on agri-marketing were discussed in detail.

To drive the message of Fincial Inclusion to the remote areas of Assam, Fincial Literacy Awareness Programmes were conducted by district development magers of BARD in twenty identified districts of Assam coinciding with celebration of BARD Foundation Day.  More than 2000 rural people were sensitized in local language about magement of money, importance of savings, advantages of savings with banks and social security schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yoja (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yoja (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yoja (PMJJBY) and Atal Pension Yoja (APY).

To mark the occasion, booklet on ‘success stories on Self Help Groups, Joint Liability Groups and Micro Enterprise Development Programmes’ was released by the Agriculture Minister and a brochure in Assamese language on social security schemes, Rupay Kisan Credit Card and Water Conservation was released by V B Pyarelal, Additiol Chief Secretary and Agriculture Production Commissioner. This was stated in a press release.