Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and New & Renewable Energy, Shri Pralhad Joshi visited Agartala from 28th to 29th December 2024 to attend multiple programs. His visit to Agartala has been a fruitful one.

During his visit to the state, the Minister visited the Food Corporation of India (FCI) office and the state godown on 28th December, where he took stock of the current situation, particularly in terms of food grain storage and distribution.

Later, he had a meeting with Chief Minister Shri Dr. Manik Saha and other officials to review the performance and implementation of key central schemes in Tripura.

Union Minister Shri Joshi also carried out a detailed review of the FCI, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), and the implementation of MNRE schemes, like Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana and PM KUSUM.

Today, on the 29th morning Union Minister Shri Joshi paid a divine Darshan of Maa Tripura Sundari, and thereafter he listened to PM Modi Ji's Mann ki Baat program at Chandrapur Colony higher secondary school at Chandrapur under Matabari in Gomati district.

Later in the day, the Minister visited Charilam village to oversee a centrally sponsored renewable energy project taken up by the Tripura Renewable Energy Development Agency (TREDA) for the farmers and also reviewed the implementation of MNRE schemes.

During the review of MNRE activities in the area, the Minister said 27 SPV Pumps covering 54 acres of land under PM- KUSUM Scheme (Component B) and 35 LED-based SPV Street Lighting Systems under the MNRE Scheme have been installed. He added that these initiatives have led to the successful implementation of double cropping, resulting in double income for the farmers.

Union Minister Shri Joshi said that the Government of India has recently approved a Private Enterprise Guarantee (PEG) scheme for enhancing storage space in North Eastern States. With this initiative, FCI aims to double its storage capacity in Tripura by constructing an additional capacity of 70,000 MT in a two-year time period.

He said today, that India is providing free food grains to 81 crore people under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, which is twice the population of the European Union. Under the scheme rice, wheat and coarse grains are being provided free of cost to state-identified beneficiaries as per local need. Modi government has extended this free ration scheme till December 31, 2028.

He said in Tripura, total Portability Transactions under ONORC are 18.74 lakh 100% ration cards have been seeded with Aadhar, and all FPSs are ePOS enabled, averting leakage.

To protect the interest of the consumers in the country, the Strengthening of Consumer Commissions scheme is being implemented by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The Central Government has been providing financial assistance to the State Governments under the scheme to supplement the efforts of the State Governments In this, the total funds released since inception to Tripura state is Rs. 3.65 cr.

To control price volatility, the Minister has underlined that the government maintains an onion buffer under the Price Stabilisation Fund. To make the disposal cost-effective and efficient, for the first time, transportation of onions from Nashik to major destinations including Guwahati in the North-Eastern region have been carried out by rail.