Leh, May 31: The UT Level Monitoring and Approval Committee (UTLMAC) convened its annual meeting under the chairmanship of Secretary (ASH & Fisheries) UT Ladakh, Ravinder Kumar in his office chamber on May 30, 2023. The primary agenda of the meeting was to discuss and approve the annual action plan for the financial year 2023-24 under the PMMSY scheme.

At the outset of the session, Assistant Director Fisheries Leh presented the Annual Action Plan with an outlay of Rs 1447.99 lacs, comprising a Government Share of Rs 899.41 lacs, Beneficiary Share of Rs 558.49 lacs, and Rs 12.693 lacs as administrative expenses. Notably, this year’s action plan proposed a 20% enhanced unit cost as per the provisions outlined in the PMMSY guidelines.

Under the Enhancement of fish production and productivity, the department proposed the construction of 70 No’s of Trout Raceways along with inputs, 5 No’s of Trout Hatcheries, 1 No of Large RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture System), and 5 No’s of Medium RAS units. Additionally, the plan included the proposal of 3 No’s of small RAS and 2 No’s of Backyard Mini RAS as part of the technology infusion component. For post-harvest management under PMMSY, 2 No’s of Storage Plants with a 10-ton capacity were proposed. The action plan also included measures for proper marketing, such as Insulated vehicles and Motorcycles with Ice Boxes. To facilitate local trout feed production, a Mini feed mill with a 2 tons/day capacity was proposed for the Ladakh region. Furthermore, the plan entailed the development of marketing infrastructure, including 8 No’s of fish kiosks and 1 unit of value-added enterprise.

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During the meeting, the Chairman reviewed the physical and financial progress of the previous year’s plan and emphasized the timely submission of utilization certificates for the release of the next installments without delay. The members emphasized the construction of more RAS units in Ladakh due to their suitability for the region, requiring minimal water and land while ensuring good production. To ensure 24×7 power supply to the RAS units, the Director of ASH & Fisheries UT Ladakh proposed providing Solar Power backup to each unit.

Kumar advised for proper training of officials and beneficiaries regarding RAS technology and operations in coordination with the Director of Cold Water Fisheries Research (DCFR) in Bhimtal, Uttarakhand. He expressed satisfaction with the steady increase in fish production in Ladakh over the last couple of years and emphasized the need to further increase it to meet the growing fish demand in the region.

The meeting was attended by various dignitaries, including the Director of ASH & Fisheries UT Ladakh (Member Secretary), representatives from the Commissioner/ Secretary of PHE & FC UT Ladakh and the Rep Commissioner/Secretary of Panchayat Raj & Rural Development Ladakh, the Convener of UT Level Bankers Committee UTLBC Ladakh, and the Assistant Director of Fisheries Department Leh.