Jitendra Singh, Union Minister, announced that the 500-kilowatt solar plant at Palli Panchayat in Samba district in Jammu Kashmir was constructed in a record period of 20 days and ahead of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's arrival. Singh was accompanied by Prakash Jain, chairman and managing director of Central Electronics Limited, who inspected the plant and the trial run of the newly built solar plant, which would make the hamlet of roughly 340 households the first in the Union Territory to become carbon neutral. The solar plant's successful trial run was displayed at the site to a minister of state from the Prime Minister's Office. On April 24, the PM will visit the Palli Panchayat to launch the solar plant as part of his National Panchayati Raj Day visit. He will also speak to a crowd of more than 30,000 members of Jammu and Kashmir's Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI). For the Prime Minister's address, PRIs from throughout the country would be digitally connected. Around 20 stalls will be set up by various departments and wings of the Union Ministry of Science and Technology at the program exhibition location, showcasing the newest technology and developments helpful to rural regions and farming. The Union Minister informed that to finish the Rs 2.75 crore renovation, a 25-member crew worked around the clock. The electricity generated would be supplied to the hamlet via the local grid power station, which has a daily demand of roughly 2,000 units. Singh added, a series of meetings involving Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Giriraj Singh were conducted in New Delhi to fine-tune exhibition topics for Modi's Jammu event. Poverty and improved village livelihood, Healthy village, Child-friendly village, Water-sufficient village, Clean and green village, Self-sufficient infrastructure in the village are some of the topics mentioned. Engineered village development, which would be carried out by several departments of the Science Ministry, would result in a revolutionary change in the rural population's family income. He told the media that stalls displaying top agriculture methods, such as DBT's Bio-Tech Kisan Scheme and drone farming, would be augmented by the Centre's and UT government's creative efforts for the welfare of farmers. Instead of traditional stalls, the minister stated that efforts are being made to present the newest technology that may add value to farmers' income, as well as science-based demonstrations with Panchayati Raj elements at the event. Geospatial technology for rural development and farmers, apps for farmers to get a five-day weather forecast, lavender cultivation (also known as the purple revolution), biotechnology innovation to increase apple production, drone application for pesticide spray and waste treatment, and atomic radiation to extend the shelf life of fruits are among the important innovations set to be showcased. Image Source