TURA, April 3: The Meghalaya government has reportedly decided to shift the existing food processing centre from Dainadubi in North Garo Hills to West Garo Hills. This move has been opposed by various organisations such as the GSU, GSMC, AHAM, People’ Joint Action Committee (PJAC), AAYF and FAF.
The groups have submitted a joint memorandum to Agriculture Minister, Banteidor Lyngdoh, through the Director of Horticulture in Shillong, to retain the facility at its present location.
The organisations claimed that the processing centre under the government would be moved to West Garo Hills while the existing centre at Dainadubi would be privatised.
The groups added that the processing centre at Dainadubi has been upgraded to use modern technology to process food at a much larger scale and privatising it would seriously affect the economic conditions of the poor farmers from the region.
It may be recalled that several pressure groups had opposed the food processing unit at Dainadubi, questioning the choice of site by the government for the project since it was a low-lying area prone to flooding.
Approved in 2011-12, the unit was commissioned in 2014 at a cost of around Rs 2 crore.
