Meghalaya has announced a financial programme for farmers (Representational)
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said the NPP-led MDA government launched an inclusive farmers' welfare programme - FOCUS - that will benefit over 4.5 lakh farmers.
He said the programme was conceptualised by the state government taking into consideration the economic hardship that farmers had faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through this programme, farmers are grouped as "producer groups" and Rs 5,000 would be given to each member in the group. Mr Sangma said the funds can be used as seed money for upscaling farming activities.
An estimated Rs 200 crore has been earmarked for this programme. In the last three months, the Chief Minister has visited several districts and blocks in the state.
In the FOCUS programme at Chokpot today, Mr Sangma distributed cheques amounting to Rs 1.2 crore to 170 producer groups to upscale their farming and entrepreneurial activities.
The Chief Minister asked people to make use of the welfare initiatives launched by the government and motivated people to form self-help groups and cooperative societies.
He said over Rs 100 crore has been sanctioned for infrastructure projects in Chokpot in South Garo Hills.