Madhya Pradesh cabinet decides to implement state millets mission scheme

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 11 : Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday decided to implement Madhya Pradesh State Millet Mission Scheme in the state.

The scheme will be implemented in all the districts through the Director, Farmers' Welfare and Agriculture Development.

The duration of the scheme will be of two years (2023-24 and 2024-25). In these two years, over Rs 23 crore will be spent under the scheme

Briefing about the decisions taken during the meeting, state Medical Education Minister Vishvas Kailash Sarang said the state will work on the promotion of coarse grains.

"Millet Mission has been established with the aim that we will work on the promotion of coarse grains, its production and its use. The duration of this mission will be for two years till 2025," he said.

Coarse cereals include maize, sorghum (jowar), oats, barley (jow), pearl millet (Bajra) and other minor millets such as finger millet (ragi), kodo millet (arikalu), proso millet (cheena), foxtail millet (kauni), little millet (kutki) and barnyard millet (Sanwa).

Under this mission scheme, coarse grain seeds will be made available to farmers by co-operative and government institutions at 80 percent subsidy so that farmers can produce maximum coarse grains in the state.

The cabinet meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Workshops and training programmes for farmers will also be orgsed at different levels, Sarang said, adding that the government will separately create public awareness for value addition of coarse grains and ensure that the farmer can also get financial benefits on a large scale.

Sarang said that during the meeting CM Chouhan said that all the government programmes, where there is food facilities, should include one dish of millets. Chouhan also instructed that millet should be given to the children in the mid-day meal and in the hostels once a week.

"We will work extensively for the next two years for the promotion of Millets Mission and a separate budget of around Rs 2325 lakhs has been kept for it," the minister said.

Talking about other decisions, Sarang said it has been decided that if farmers pay mandi fee for wheat export, the state government will reimburse it.

He said the council of ministers also decided that transgenders should be included in list 94 of Madhya Pradesh backward class.

The cabinet also approved two major irrigation projects - an irrigation project on the Shipra river near Dungaria village of Mahidpur block of Ujjain district and revised administrative approval was given for the Tiktoli distributary project, Sarang added.

He said that in the meeting of the Investment Promotion Committee, it was decided to give big concessions to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for the biggest investment in the state. A plant expansion is proposed by Bharat Petroleum in the campus of Bina Refinery located in Bina district, in which Rs 45,000 to Rs 50,000 crore would be invested.

About two lakh people are likely to get direct and indirect employment in this plant, he added.