Kolkata, Feb. 12 -- To provide good quality fresh agricultural produce and fish to consumers at reasonable prices through the 'Sufal Bangla' brand retail chain, the state government has proposed to open 350 additional outlets.
The announcement was made in the Budget statement of state Finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya in the state Assembly on Wednesday. Presently, there are 646 Sufal Bangla stalls in Bengal. Bhattacharya said that in order to further strengthen market connectivity and facilitate better prices for farmers and consumers, 200 procurement centres will be set up in 'Regulated Market Committee' markets and 'Haats' for the purchase of vegetable and other agricultural produce. "I allocate Rs 200 crore for this purpose," she said during the budget speech. She further announced steps for promoting post-harvest infrastructure and to support farmers, considering that post-harvest management facilities for agricultural produce are needed for value addition, packaging and storage. This would ensure better prices of farm produce. The Budget proposed to extend financial assistance under farm mechanisation for primary processing, sorting and grading, packaging and storage units for perishable agricultural produce.
"Financial assistance of 50 per cent of project cost with an upper limit of Rs 5 lakh can be availed. I propose to allocate Rs 200 crore for this purpose," she added. She announced an allocation of another Rs 200 crore for providing smartphones to Asha workers and Anganwadi workers. The state believes that it will increase the efficiency of 70000 Asha workers and one lakh odd Anganwadi workers.
Asha and Anganwadi workers act as a bridge between public Health care delivery and the local community.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.