Portal to be set up to address farmers' problems: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said that his ministry would create a dedicated portal to address farmers' complaints, and also asked his officials to quickly resolve them.

The minister participated in a high-level meeting to review the resolution of complaints received from farmers through call centres and other portals, according to a statement from the ministry. 

Chouhan "instructed the officials to create a single dedicated portal for farmers' complaints, suggestions, and other assistance instead of multiple portals, for the convenience of farmers, and to ensure early and proper resolution of problems", said the statement. 

While seeking information from officials about the complaints received from farmers, many of which pertained to spurious or substandard fertilisers, seeds, and pesticides, the minister directed them to resolve the issue at the earliest. 

"We must save farmers from being looted and, for this, the sale of substandard fertilisers, seeds, and pesticides must be stopped," he said.

The minister stressed ensuring the supply of quality inputs to farmers in coordination with state governments

Expressing concern over the sale of illegal bio-stimulants, the minister said only 146 notified bio-stimulants should be sold in the market, and the sale of any other unapproved bio-stimulant should not be permitted.

On complaints about instalments under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Chouhan directed the officials that since these were both important schemes, every complaint related to them must be resolved, and officials should also contact farmers to take their feedback.