New Delhi, March 14: Despite concerns from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a proposal from the Union Ministry of Railways and demands from farmers, main agricultural produce from the North East will continue to remain outside the purview of Kisan Rail Subsidy.
The Union Ministry of Food Processing and Industries (MoFPI) has refused to give assent to Railway Ministry’s proposal to include seven major items — tea leaves, bamboo, rubber, betel nut, black pepper, mustard, and soybean — under the Operation Greens (TOP to Total) scheme, which provides 50 per cent subsidy on transportation of fruits and vegetables.
The Kisan Rail was introduced last year to transport perishable products.
The MoFPI said the major Northeastern products do not include fruits or vegetables. According to official data, around 240 trips of Kisan Rail on 31 routes have transported agriculture produce across the country.
While several Kisan Rail trains originating from Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, among other states, have transported farm produce to the North East, no such train has originated from the region to other parts of the country.
Lately, only turmeric and mandarin, a citrus fruit, from the list of proposed items have been included in the subsidy scheme.
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) had also vouched for products such as bamboo, but to no avail, sources said.
While the Kisan Rail, launched in July 2020, has transported over 80,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables from various parts of the country to bigger markets, it has not been able to take indigenous products from the North East to elsewhere in India.
Without the subsidy, talks with local stakeholders such as farmers, aggregators and agents for price incentives at a zonal-level had not been fruitful, officials said.
Officials said that top government offices vote for the transportation of indigenous produce from the region to bigger markets through the new transportation schemes, Kisan Rail and Krishi Udan, aimed at transporting agricultural produce by air.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in one of his speeches at Parliament, had said the North East is home to many wonderful products, however due to the lack of transportation, the farmers were unable to make profits.