Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) in the month of May, had extended the Operation Greens Scheme for a period of six months on a pilot basis as part of the government's Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
Farmers, retailers, cooperative societies, state, and cooperative marketing agencies can avail of the subsidy scheme until December 11. It is worth mentioning, that Kisan Rail is a step towards realizing the goal of doubling farmers' incomes by 2022.
Worth mentioning here that the notified fruits include mango, banana, guava, papaya, citrus, pineapple, and pomegranate and the list of vegetables include onion, potato, tomato, French beans, brinjal, capsicum, carrot, cauliflower, and okra.
On Tuesday, the Railway Board made this announcement, just a day before the fourth Kisan rail from Nagpur is scheduled for the flag off.
Zonal railways have been asked to extend a subsidy of 50% on transportation of notified fruits and vegetables through Kisan Rail trains with immediate effect. Also, it will the duty of the chief parcel supervisor of the loading station to ensure that only the selected items are extended the benefits of this scheme. Further, the subsidy will be borne by the MoFPI, which is implementing the Operation Greens project under the Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) initiative.
In the Union Budget for this financial year, the finance ministry had announced plans of starting special parcel trains called 'Kisan Rail'. In her Budget 2020 speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had mentioned the Indian Railways will set up a 'Kisan Rail' through public-private partnership (PPP) with refrigerated coaches for transportation of perishable goods.