Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chauhan on Wednesday said a special roadmap for Tripura would be designed to upgrade the agriculture sector in the state. Addressing a state-level programme of VB GRAM G and other schemes of rural development ministry in Agartala, the Union Minister said a team of top scientists and experts from the field of agriculture sector would visit Tripura and carry out soil examination and agro-climatic condition, which will eventually help in upgradation of agriculture sector of the state. He said in the Union Budget 2026, Rs 2 lakh crore has been allocated annually to upgrade the panchayat system of the country. “For five years, the allocated fund for the panchayats will therefore go up to Rs 10 lakh crore. This means, a panchayat will be allocated a fund of Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 1.75 crore annually,” Chauhan said, adding that there are 2.86 lakh panchayats in the country.
Taking a dig at the Congress and CPI(M) in the state, he said that lies are peddled by the Opposition parties about the new law by saying that jobs will be snatched away, development of the villages will not take place, so on and so forth. Chauhan further said that as per provision in the VB G-RAM-G law, panchayats can undertake infra works like construction of nullahs, anganwadi, village roads among others. Referring to other provisions in the law, the minister said that if an individual asks for a job and he is not provided one, then he will be entitled for an unemployment allowance. “Similarly, if a person is delayed work, he will be entitled for a pending labor allowance. In certain cases, if the delay is more than 15 days, then the individual will have to be paid along with the interest rate,” the Minister clarified. He further lauded the success of self-groups in the state while emphasizing their role in empowering women.
