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New Delhi : Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar flagged off the inaugural run of ‘Devlali-Danapur Kisan Rail’ on August 7, 2020, through Video Conference in the presence of Union Railways, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal who presided over the function. With it, Indian Railways introduced first “Kisan Rail” from Devlali to Danapur from Devlali. The train will run on weekly basis
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had made an announcement in the Union Budget 2020-21 to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of milk, meat and fish and it was also stated that the Indian Railways will set up a Kisan Rail through PPP arrangements.
Speaking on the occasion, Tomar said that Kisan Rail will help transport the produce of farmers to different parts of the country at a nominal cost, thus the farmer will benefit. This will help achieve the vision of the Prime Minister of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022. Tomar thanked PM Narendra Modi for his vision of strengthening the transportation network across the country with a special emphasis on the transportation of perishable goods in a time bound manner. He said that due to non-availability of transportation, the farmers are not getting remunerative price for their farm produce and appreciated the efforts of Ministry of Railways to start Kisan Rail..
Addressing the gathering through video conference, the Agriculture Minister stated that the government is committed to the welfare of farmers by building a seamless national cold supply chain for perishable products in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry sector. Mentioning that basic needs of farmers are being fulfilled by Kisan Rail, he expressed happiness that farmers activities have not been affected even during the Covid lockdown and all the activities related to harvesting of Rabi Crops and sowing of summer and Kharif Crops have progressed in a satisfactory manner, according to a PIB release.
Goyal mentioned that the first rail was run in 1853 from Bori Bundar to Thane and now first Kisan Rail is being run in 2020 by Government of India under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. The Government has launched PM KISAN scheme in which Rs 6,000 are being given to farmers’ families and other many schemes/ programmes to double the farmers’ income.
The flagging off ceremony was held in the presence of Suresh Angadi, Union Minister of State for Railways, Raosaheb Danve, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Purshottam Rupala and Kailash Choudhary, Union Ministers of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Devendra Fadnavis, Leader of Opposition, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Chhagan Bhujbal, Minister of Food, Civil Supply and Consumer Protection, Govt. of Maharashtra.
In order to serve the purpose of the farming community of the country, Kisan Rail shall be trains with multi commodities, multi-consignors and multi consignees. These trains shall run between fixed Origin–Destination pairs with en-route stoppages, and loading/ unloading shall be permitted at any of the en-route stoppage.