On Monday, September 1, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that his ministry would set up a dedicated portal to address farmers’ complaints, and also instructed his officials to quickly resolve them.
Chairing a high-level meeting, the minister reviewed the resolution of complaints received from farmers through call centres and other portals, according to a statement from the ministry.
Chouhan instructed to set up a dedicated portal for farmers’ complaints
According to the statement, Chouhan instructed the officials to set up a single dedicated portal for farmers’ complaints, suggestions, and other assistance instead of various portals, for the convenience of farmers, and to ensure early and proper resolution of problems. He collected information from officials about the complaints received from farmers which some of which are related to false or substandard fertilisers, seeds, and pesticides, and he instructed them to resolve the issue at the earliest. He stressed: “We must save farmers from being looted and, for this, the sale of substandard fertilisers, seeds, and pesticides must be halted”.
The minister ensured the supply of quality inputs to farmers
Furthermore, the minister emphasised ensuring the supply of quality inputs to farmers in coordination with state governments. He also expressed his concern
over the sale of illegal bio-stimulants, and stated that only 146 notified bio-stimulants should be sold in the market, and the sale of any other unapproved bio-stimulant should not be allowed. Moreover, on complaints about instalments under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Chouhan instructed the officials that since these were both significant schemes, every complaint related to them must be resolved, and officials should also contact farmers to take their feedback after the resolution.