Sonowal sounds alert on controlling pest attack on paddy

Guwahati: Swarms of caterpillars have damaged standing paddy in thousands of hectares of land in ten districts of Assam much to the agony of farmers even as Assam’s agriculture department is groping for ways to stop the pest attack on paddy immediately.
Even as the state agriculture department staff is out on the field to tackle the caterpillar menace at the instruction of the agriculture minister Atul Bora, state’s chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday directed the deputy commissioners of the affected districts to personally supervise the salvage efforts to provide succour to the farmers by saving their paddy under attack.
Sonowal has asked deputy commissioners to take steps to distribute spray machines and pesticides to the affected farmers to wipe this caterpillar hazards while asking the agriculture department to maintain a constant vigil on the development and spearhead the operation to stop proliferation of the teeming caterpillars.
He also issued instruction to the District Agriculture Officers of the districts which bore the brunt of the pests attack to personally supervise entire exercise.
Meanwhile, reiterating that government’s own efforts is not enough for ensuring good governance , Sonowal said that people’s participation and feedback were equally important to make government accountable for service delivery and to bring visible change.
Participating in an interaction programme with leading citizens and different organizations of Dibrugarh city, Sonowal said that people must contribute through their suggestions and recommendations to erase the faults in governance and make the government deliver on its duties.
Saying that common citizens are an important part of the administrative system Chief Minister called on the civil society to take active part in governance and keep a strict vigil on the workings of the government by pointing out the faults and shortcomings.
He also said that the government believed in facilitating an open environment where people could freely voice their opinions and concerns regarding government activities.
Sonowal urged the people to come forward and help the government achieve this goal.