Prince Rahim Aga Khan V meets Gujarat CM, discusses grassroots development cooperation

Gandhinagar, Sep 12 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Aga Khan Development Network Chairman Prince Rahim Aga Khan V discussed expanding cooperation in areas, including water conservation, natural farming, millets, solar energy, cooperatives and women-led enterprises during a meeting in Gandhinagar on Saturday.
 

Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, who is the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), paid a courtesy visit to CM Patel and held discussions on opportunities for grassroots-level collaboration for sustainable, inclusive and people-centric development.

Welcoming Prince Rahim to Gujarat, CM Patel said the AKDN's focus on sustainable development, education, skill development, enterprise promotion and empowerment of underprivileged and vulnerable communities was aligned with Gujarat's development approach.

Water conservation was among the key areas discussed.

Chief Minister Patel highlighted the state's efforts in rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and rejuvenation of water bodies, saying "water conservation had become a people's movement across Gujarat".

The Chief Minister also outlined the state's initiatives to promote millets and natural farming.

"Gujarat had undertaken measures to increase millet production, processing and value addition," he noted.

He also highlighted the state's 'Millet Development Scheme', aimed at expanding millet cultivation, creating awareness about the health benefits of millets and encouraging farmers to take up processing.

Possibilities for cooperation in solar energy and solar pumps were also discussed.

According to the state government, Gujarat's installed solar capacity has reached 34,880 MW.

Under the 'PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana', the state has set a target of installing 10 lakh rooftop solar systems, of which more than 8.39 lakh have been installed so far.

Chief Minister Patel also spoke about Gujarat's cooperative sector, with more than 87,000 cooperative societies currently functioning in the state.

"Efforts are underway across the country to further strengthen cooperatives under the 'Sahkar Se Samriddhi' approach," he noted.

The discussions included the role of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) in taking the cooperative system to rural communities.

Possibilities of further strengthening the rural economy and developing PACS as 'small corporate companies' offering a range of services at the village level were also considered.

Women's empowerment and entrepreneurship formed another part of the discussions.

Chief Minister Patel highlighted the state's women's self-reliance ecosystem, under which thousands of women receive awareness and enterprise development training to establish micro-enterprises and achieve economic self-reliance.

Prince Rahim expressed willingness to further strengthen grassroots-level collaboration with the Gujarat government, particularly in areas of mutual interest including water conservation, natural farming, millet-based food and women's self-help groups.

Both sides expressed a positive approach towards deepening cooperation by leveraging their respective strengths for sustainable, holistic and people-centric development.

Prince Rahim has contributed to initiatives relating to environmental conservation, climate change mitigation, education, skill development, entrepreneurship and improving the quality of life of underprivileged and vulnerable communities.

Additional Chief Secretary (Industries Department) Mamta Verma, and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Sanjeev Kumar, were also present at the meeting.

--IANS

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