 "Centre to launch toll-free farmer helpline in 2025 to address grievances")
The Centre is gearing up to introduce a nationwide toll-free helpline number in 2025 to assist farmers and resolve their grievances efficiently. The call centre for this initiative will be established in the Delhi-NCR region, according to a CNN-News18 report.
This single helpline aims to streamline grievance redressal for farmers regarding schemes implemented by both the central and state/UT governments. It will also serve as an information hub, offering details on various agricultural schemes and enhancing service quality through timely resolution of issues, the report stated.
The project is likely to commence operations soon, with the call centre expected to employ a workforce of at least 100 people. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had first unveiled the plan in August this year, and the bidding process for the project is expected to conclude early next year.
Key features of the farmer helpline
The toll-free helpline will be accessible via landline and mobile numbers across all telecom networks. Farmers can use the service daily from 6 am to 10 pm. To cater to the linguistic diversity of the farming community, the helpline will support grievance registration in 22 official languages, the report said.
Apart from resolving complaints, the helpline will act as an awareness tool, informing farmers and officials about situations impacting crops or livestock. Calls made by farmers from any state/UT will be routed to Grievance Tele Advisors (GTAs) assigned specifically to their region through the Farmers Grievance Redressal System.
The helpline centre will be located in the Delhi-NCR area, ensuring a centralised and efficient handling of grievances.
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Outbound call facility to enhance feedback mechanism
An outbound call system will also be set up at the Integrated Command and Control Centre at Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi. This will enable officers from the Agriculture Ministry to contact randomly selected farmers, collect feedback, and assess how effectively grievances have been addressed by ministry officials.
According to the report, this helpline is being designed to offer seamless access to farmers and is expected to play a significant role in improving the grievance redressal process across the agriculture sector.
The helpline comes at a crucial time when farmers in Punjab and Haryana are pressing for a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP). This development is expected to strengthen communication between the government and farmers, potentially addressing some long-standing issues in the agricultural sector.