'Merge agri, food processing & rural development ministries'

Minister of State for Food Processing Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti today pitched for merging of three ministries -- agriculture, food processing and rural development -- for better coordination.
"There are three ministries that are directly linked to the common man and provide employment opportunities to both rich and poor, they are agriculture, food processing and rural development. I have a suggestion that these three ministries should be merged," Jyoti said addressing an Assocham event.
Merging of the three ministries would improve coordination, she said and added, "I will write a letter to the Prime Minister in this regard."
Emphasising on the development of warehouse infrastructure, the Minister said the warehousing sector has a significant role to play in the Prime Minister's ambitious 'Make-in-India' project, which aims to provide job to every individual.

"Food processing is the only ministry which can play an important role in 'Make in India', as it involves farmers, farms, labour, industry and other stakeholders that form a chain of food processing industry," she said.
The Minister said farmers should be provided loans for storing their produce and there should be storage facilities at the district level.
"There should be storage facilities at the district level to check inflation for the common man and at the same time to ensure better returns to farmers," she said.
The Minister also suggested setting up of training centres at the district level "where students graduating from Sonipat-based National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) can provide training to local farmers in modern farm techniques".