To boost farmers' welfare and help in achieving 'Doubling the Farmer's Income' mission, government likely to announce expansion of Kisan Rail Scheme.
Amid the ongoing farmers protest in the National Capital region against the three farm laws, the Narendra Modi government is expected to announce some sops for the farmers in upcoming Union Budget. According to reports, the government may further expand the 'Kisan Rail Sewa' services in the country.
Sources say that to give further boost to farmers' welfare and help in achieving 'Doubling the Farmer's Income' mission, government is likely to announce the expansion of the ongoing 'Kisan Rail Scheme'. It is also said that the Railway Ministry is looking to cross the 1000 'Kisan Rail Run' in financial year 2021-22.
Last year on December 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 100th Kisan Rail train service of Indian Railways via video conferencing. This 'Kisan Rail' will run from Sangola in the state of Maharashtra to Shalimar in the state of West Bengal.
The multi-commodity 'Kisan Rail' train service will carry and transport vegetables such as cauliflower, chillies, onion, cabbage, capsicum, drumsticks, as well as fruits such as bananas, grapes, pomegranate, custard apple, oranges, etc. The loading and unloading of perishable items by the 'Kisan Rail' train service will be allowed at all en route stoppages with no bar on the size of the consignment.
Modi government has also extended a subsidy of 50 per cent on transportation of vegetables and fruits. As 'Kisan Rail' got a good response from the farmers, the frequency of this train service was increased from weekly to three days in a week.
Kisan Rail service features
- Kisan Rail comprises of refrigerated coaches in Express and Freight trains.
- Kisan Rail aims to assure better price with faster and cheaper transportation and provide seamless supply chain
- Preventing the destruction of perishable farm produce thereby opening up the scope to increase the income of farmers.
- Farmers can transport notified fruits and vegetables at 50 per cent subsidized rates across the nation.
- Mango, Banana, Guava, Kiwi, Litchi, Papaya, Mousambi, Orange, Kinnow, Lime, Lemon, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Jackfruit, Apple, Almond, Aonla, Passion fruit and Pear will benefit.
- Vegetables like French beans, Bitter Gourd, Brinjal, Capsicum, Carrot, Cauliflower, Chillies (Green), Okra, Cucumber, Peas, Garlic, Onion, Potato and Tomato to get the benefit with immediate effect.
- Kisan Rail ensures agro-products reach from one corner of the country to another in a quick time by faster transportation, benefitting both the farmers and the consumers.
Kisan Rail services timeline
- The first Kisan Rail train service of Indian Railways was launched on August 7, 2020 from Devlali to Danapur, which was further extended up to Muzaffarpur.
- Second Kisan Rail service was started from Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh) to Adarsh Nagar Delhi and was inaugurated on September 9, 2020 as a weekly train.
- Third Kisan Rail service was started from Bengaluru (Karnataka) to Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi) and was inaugurated on September 9, 2020 as a weekly train.
- Fourth Kisan Rail service was started from Nagpur and Warud Orange City (Maharashtra) to Adarsh Nagar Delhi was inaugurated on October 14, 2020.
The 'Kisan Rail' train service is said to be a game changer in ensuring fast transportation of agricultural supplies across the country. Also, this rail service provides a seamless supply chain of perishable items.
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 "'Kisan Rail' train service")
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