Kochi: Nearly six crore `easy kits`, comprising
20 essential commodities, would be launched across India in
two weeks by NAFED through its easy market scheme to curb
price rise, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Prof K V
Thomas, said on Sunday.
"The scheme will first be introduced as pilot projects in
Delhi and Kochi and launched nationwide in two weeks. The kits
will be given to both APL (Above Poverty Line) and BPL (Below
Poverty Line) families once a month through state controlled
agencies or central agencies," he told reporters here.
The prices for the kits would be announced later, he said.
Thomas said the Centre would provide 30 to 40 per cent
subsidy for the project and added that the total subsidy
component of the scheme was around Rs 600 crore.
He claimed the Centre and state governments had time and
again undertaken timely market intervention schemes to bring
down prices and provide relief to people from rising prices.
He said NAFED proposed to distribute about one crore kits
in Kerala and added that the state Government had evinced
interest in implementing it.
Thomas said NAFED, the Centre`s nodal agency for many of
its flagship projects, has launched its `road map`, opening up
the potential for a major leap forward in many spheres of the
development spectrum, with focus on farmers and cooperatives.
PTI
