The State agriculture department will sanction monetary help of up to Rs 1,500 to the farmers in the state for buying a cell phone. The plan is intended to urge the farmers to purchase cell phones which could be utilized for different purposes towards expanding their farm income, at a time when the prevalence of digital services in the field of agriculture is growing every day, the notice state.
According to the Government Resolution (GR) given by the state’s Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Cooperation division on Saturday, any landholding farmer in Gujarat can apply for the help of 10% of the absolute expense of a cell phone whose price must not be surpassing Rs 1,500 on the I-khedut portal to avail advantages of this scheme.
This help is substantial just for the expense of the cell phone and not for some other frill, for example, accessories such as power backup device, earphones, charger etc., it said. All landholding farmers are eligible for this scheme, but only one beneficiary in a joint holding farm will be eligible.
The notice also explains that the smartphone will make it easy for a farmer to access information regarding weather forecast, possible pest infestation, various schemes of the agriculture department, modern farm techniques and expert opinion and much more.
The also GR said that smartphones can also be utilised by farmers to apply online for various schemes of the state government meant for them by using smartphone facilities such as cameras, emails, texts and multimedia services, GPS, web browser, internet connectivity among others.
Once the application is approved, the beneficiary farmers will have to provide a copy of the purchase bill of the smartphone, mobile IMEI number, a cancelled cheque etc.
