Review Meeting of RAJFED: Ensure Adequate Arrangements for Purchasing Agricultural Commodities from Farmers : Cooperation Minister

Jaipur : Shri Gautam Kumar Dak, Minister of State for Cooperation (Independent Charge), emphasized that adequate arrangements should be made to enable farmers to sell their produce at the support price easily. He stressed that the quality standards for commodities at purchase centers should be strictly followed.

Shri Dak was addressing the officers of RAJFED (Rajasthan State Cooperative Marketing Federation) in a review meeting held at the Apex Bank Auditorium on Monday. He directed that all societies must complete the tender process by the end of February for purchases. The tender process should be timely and transparent. He also instructed the opening of enough purchase centers for the convenience of farmers. Shri Dak further advised that the requirement for purchase centers should be reviewed and sufficient bags should be arranged in advance.

The Minister of Cooperation also stated that monitoring teams should be deployed at purchase centers to prevent any contractor or society from exploiting the sampling process. He directed that the video recording of farmers selling their produce at the purchase centers should be mandatory. Shri Dak called for strict action against erring societies and contractors, including blacklisting them and imposing penalties. He also suggested that purchase permission should not be granted to centers where issues had been identified previously.

Shri Dak mentioned that the Government of India grants purchase permission within 90 days, but efforts should be made to complete it in a shorter time. He also instructed that farmers should be paid for their produce on time and the payment process through NAFED should be completed promptly. Additionally, he issued directives to ensure better utilization of the land available with RAJFED, proper operation of gas agencies, timely and proper responses to assembly questions, and the swift resolution of pending cases.

The meeting was attended by Shri Manju Rajpal, Principal Secretary, Cooperation Department and Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Shri Tikam Chand Bohra, Managing Director of RAJFED, Shri Dinesh Kumar Jangid, Joint Secretary, and other senior officials.