November 26, 2020: The first Kisan Rail of Western Railway (WR) carrying 180 tonnes of onions, left for New Guwahati station from Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. Railway officials said 20 general category coaches are attached in this Kisan Rail, which they said will leave for New Guwahati every Tuesday from Indore’s Laxmibai Nagar station.
“18 coaches filled with onions are attached in this Kisan Rail, while the remaining 2 coaches are empty in which any farmer can book his goods on the way,” said Jitendra Kumar Jayant, senior public relations officer of Western Railway, Ratlam Division.
This is a joint effort of Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and railway minister Piyush Goyal, in which 50% concession in freight is also being given to farmers, said Indore MP Shankar Lalwani.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm among the farmers about the first Kisan Rail of Western Railway. Such trains will increase inter-state trade of farmers’ produce. This will help us in realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a self-reliant India,” Lalwani added.
Officials said the train will halt at Sant Hirdaram Nagar, Bina, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Barabanki, Chhapra (Rural), Hajipur, Katihar, Kishanganj and New Jalpaiguri stations in both directions.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the operation of Kisan Rail on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis in this year’s budget to ensure speedy transportation of fruits, vegetables, milk etc.
The first ‘Kisan Rail’ train for transportation of perishable goods with refrigerated coaches was flagged off on August 7 from Deolali in Maharashtra to Danapur in Bihar.
Indian Railways is running ‘Kisan Rail’ and the central government has given a subsidy to the farmers for transporting fruits and vegetables via train, under which they will get 50 per cent discount on the ticket fare, Vinod Kumar Yadav, chairman and chief executive officer, Railway Board had stated earlier.
Source: live mint
