Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann: Inter-state trade will improve farmers' income

Chandigarh, October 22

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday batted for the promotion of the inter-state trade of produce for remunerative price to farmers.

Chairing a meeting with the Chairman and Managing Directors of mandi boards of various states at Punjab Bhawan here, the Chief Minister said all states must join hands for developing a common platform to buy and sell the commodities.

He said this was the need of the hour to safeguard the interests of both consumers and farmers. Mann said this would ensure the availability of best products to people and remunerative price of the produce to the farmers.

The Chief Minister said it would ensure that cross-sections of society benefited from this practice. He said now when the entire world had emerged as a single market, the unnecessary shackles within the states regarding the production and marketing of produce should be removed.

The Chief Minister said it was imperative to adopt this approach to ensure that farmers got the due. He said due to ever-escalating cost of farm inputs and lower returns, agriculture was no longer a profitable venture.

However, Mann said if the idea of common platform for marketing of produces was evolved, it would help them in a big way.

The Chief Minister also explained the visiting delegations about the successful utilisation of the Rural Development Fund by the state for public welfare. However, he said a whopping sum of Rs 5,637.4 crore of state’s RDF was still pending with the Union Government. Mann said despite various efforts, the Union Government was not releasing the fund.

Chairman, Punjab Mandi Board, Harchand Singh Barsat, Chairman, Goa Mandi Board, Parkash Chander Velip, Chairman, Haryana Mandi Board, Aditya Devilal Chautala, MD, Uttarakhand Mandi Board, Ashish Bhatgain and others were also present.