Bhubaneswar: Senior BJP leader and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged the Centre for linkage of 66 Regulated Market Committees (RMCs) under the e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) platform to raise the income of farmers.
In a letter to Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh, Dharmendra on Wednesday said around 60-70 percent of the population in Odisha is engaged in agriculture and allied activities.
However, low per capita income in the farm sector coupled with declining profitability has harmed the farmers as they continue to lag behind in marketing and processing capabilities.
“In this context, it is imperative that both the farmers and related organizations should connect with e-NAM to benefit from absolute farm produce price discovery and achieve the vision of the government to double farmer’s income by 2022,” he said.
Stating that at present 10 mandis in Odisha are linked under the e-NAM platform, The Union Minister said there is an urgent need to link all the 66 RMCs functioning under the supervision and control of the Odisha State Agricultural Marketing Board (OSAMB) under the e-NAM platform as majority of the RMCs in the state have inadequate facilities infrastructure.
“Such an initiative will facilitate the farmers to increase their income and livelihood,” Dharmendra pointed out.
The objective of the (e-NAM) Scheme is to create an enabling mechanism for improved implementation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme at the cutting edge, leading to enhanced outcomes in nature and extent. It would act as a guide for implementation by the district collector and key functionaries at district APMCs (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) and RMCs, enable quick learning about the scheme, implementation modalities and roles and responsibilities of various functionaries and the stakeholders.
