National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGPA) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme initiated in 2010-11 as a pilot project in 7 India states viz. Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh. It was then extended for all the remaining States and 2 UTs in 2014-15 for a period of 5 years. Now, this 5 year period was extended up to March 31, 2021.
- The aim of the scheme is to provide timely access to agriculture related information to the farmers through Information & Communication Technology (ICT).
Phase-II of the scheme
Under this phase, the funds were released to the States in order to carry out the following activities:
- Site preparation of offices to install the hardware
- To establishment of computer training labs
- Procurement, installation and accounting of the system software.
- To back-up power arrangements.
- To set-up the State Project Management Unit (SPMUs) and
- To hire manpower on contractual basis
- Data Digitization Customization of applications as per the requirement in the State and UTs.
Recent Developments under the scheme
The NeGPA guidelines were amended in 2020-2021 in order to modernize the farming sector. Further, the initiative such as Unified Farmers Service Platform (UFSP) was launched.
- UFSP is a combination of Core Infrastructure, Data, Applications and Tools that enable seamless interoperability of various public and private IT systems in the agriculture ecosystem across the country.
ICT enabled multiple delivery channels include Internet, Government Offices, Touch Screen Kiosks, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Kisan Call Centres, Agri-Clinics, Common Service Centers, Mobile Phones, Broadcast, IVRS, interactive messaging using unstructured Supplementary Service Data and Voice Recognition for ensuring timely access to agriculture related information for the farmers of the country.
Recent Related News:
i.On December 31, 2020 Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the Virtual Agri India hackathon 2020 in New Delhi. This 2 month event is 1st of its kind and also the largest virtual event in Indian agriculture history. The hackathon is organised by Pusa Krishi, ICAR – Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) & Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.
ii.On 3rd December, 2020 Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to address the key interests of Agriculture and allied sectors for bringing better value to the stakeholders and Implementing Agriculture Export Policy (AEP).
About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:
Union Minister– Narendra Singh Tomar(Constituency- Morena, Madhya Pradesh)
Minister of State (MoS) – Parshottambhai Rupala, Kailash Choudhary
