Shyam urges Centre for 10,000 MT of rice
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, September 03 2019:
Highlighting that Manipur has been reeling under drought which has led to crop failure on a massive scale, CAF&PD Minister Karam Shyam has urged Ministry of CAF&PD to approve the proposal for allocation of 10,000 MTs of rice at MSP rate at the earliest.
Speaking at the 5th National Consultative Meeting held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi today which was attended by Union Minister of CAF&PD Ram Vilas Paswan, Karam Shyam said that the price of local rice has reached Rs 45 to Rs 50 in the market due to scarcity of the food grains.
He also mentioned that the State has been already declared drought-hit by the State Government.
Saying that a proposal for construction of six intermediate State godowns was sent to the Ministry of CAF&PD with financial involvement of Rs 61.1078 crore, Shyam sought the Ministry's approval of the proposal and early release of fund.
The Chief Minister of Manipur had launched FPS automation on July 10, 2019 starting with ten FPS centres and the State Government is gearing to cover all the 2324 FPSs of the State.
But lack of adequate fund has become an obstacle to this project.
There is gap of about Rs 5 crore after accounting the Central share, Karam Shyam said while urging the Government of India to bear full cost of FPS automation for small North Eastern States like Manipur.