Cabinet nod to switch finance facility to assist APMCs: Narendra Singh Tomar

The Union Cabinet on Thursday determined to switch the Rs 1-lakh crore Central Sector Scheme finance facility underneath the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, which Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar mentioned will improve capability of Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs).
Tomar reiterated the federal government’s stand that wanting repealing the three farm legal guidelines, in opposition to which farmers have been protesting since December final yr, the federal government is prepared to debate any proposal from farmers’ unions.
Briefing the media on the Cabinet selections, Tomar mentioned, “I have told them (farmer unions) multiple times that apart from repealing the laws they can bring forward any proposal. We are ready to discuss.”
He urged farmers to finish their agitation and appealed to them to undertake the “medium of consultation”, assuring that the federal government is prepared for discussions. “I want to tell friends connected to the farmers’ agitation that it is said the new laws will finish the APMC”, however the authorities had assured on this yr’s Budget that “mandis will be strengthened”.
Tomar mentioned opponents of the farm legal guidelines had claimed MSP shall be affected, however harvest and procurement has gone up for the reason that agitation began. He added that areas the place extra farmers are collaborating within the agitation are these the place farmers have gotten “thousands of crores of rupees in payment as MSP”.

The Rs 1-lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund was provisioned underneath the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package deal within the Budget, and APMCs will have the ability to use that now to extend their assets, Tomar mentioned.

The Cabinet additionally authorised an modification to the Coconut Development Board Act, 1979, to make the Board’s chairman a non-executive put up. This, the federal government mentioned in a press release, “will be beneficial to coconut growers”. Tomar mentioned there shall be a CO for government powers.