Centre urges Orissa for sops to food processing sector

The Centre has urged the Orissa government to extend benefits like free land, electricity and other incentives to attract investment in the food processing sector.

Since the food processing units can come up in villages, it can help the government check migration of people from rural to urban areas.

This would also help in improving the productivity and income of the farmers, said Subodhkant Sahay, the union minister of state for food processing industries.

Launching the public information campaign here on Bharat Nirman, organised by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Government of India (GoI), the minister said, he has met the Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik and apprised him about the necessity of improving the post-harvest management of agri-products to enhance the productivity of the farmers.

He said, industrialisation of agri-produce would drive the farmers to go for market driven products.

So the state government should replace the existing Orissa Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1956, with the Contract Farming Act. The potential in the horticulture sector should also be explored. That apart, the state should frame a food processing policy for the development of this sector, Sahay added.

Speaking at this launching ceremony, the Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilizers, Srikant Jena, said, after promulgation of the right to information and right to education acts, the UPA government is considering to introduce a food security bill in the Parliament. The Rajiv Gandhi Rastriya Swasthya Vima Yojana should be expanded to all the districts of Orissa to extend health insurance benefits to all the people living below poverty line.

The state panchayatiraj minister, Prafulla Samal said, the state government is taking various pro-active measures for effective implementation of the work under schemes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The waving of tax collected on different components of work taken up under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is under the active consideration of the state government. A decision in this regard is expected soon.

He, however, urged the Centre to share 50 percent of the costs of appointing the Business Correspondents in all Gram Panchayats for NREGA payments.