Seeking a revolution in food processing sector in the State, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday sought the support of Union Food Processing Ministry for formulating a ‘Comprehensive Action Plan’ to achieve this goal.
Interacting with a team of Union Food Processing, which called on him, the Chief Minister said that the Ministry along with the State Government should formulate this ambitious plan within a month, so that big push could be given to the food processing sector in the State.
He said that the hard working and resilient farmers’ of the state have led the country in Green, White and Blue revolutions and now it was the high time that their indomitable spirit of entrepreneurship was channelized in Food processing sector. “There was a huge potential of Food processing sector in the state, which could be duly utilised for changing the fortunes of Punjabi farmers,” he added.
Badal said that with their sheer hard work the Punjabi farmers have made the state a leader in food grains, milk and fish production. However, he said that the production of these have reached a point of saturation due to which the farmers of the state were on cross roads. He said that in such a scenario processing of food grains, meat, fish, milk, fruits, vegetables and other could do wonders in supplementing the income of farmers. “I firmly believe that Food Processing is the ‘panacea of all ills’ faced by the farmers” he added.
The Chief Minister asked the representatives of the Union Food Processing Ministry to open demonstration cum training centers across the State to encourage the farmers for food processing. He said that these state-of-the art centres equipped with ultramodern technology to exhibit the techniques, ways and finished products of food processing would act as a catalyst make Food Processing a mass movement in the state. likewise, Badal said that training imparted in these centers would be very helpful to the farmers for this cause.
The CM also gave nod for back to back tie up between Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) for introduction of several courses in Food Processing. He also asked NIFTEM to explore the feasibility of setting up a sub centre in the state to give fillip to Food Processing industry.
The Chief Minister also assured fulsome support and cooperation to Union Ministry of Food Processing and NIFTEM to initiate outreach training program for the farmers at grass root level so as to acquaint them in Food processing practices. It was decided in the meeting that 200 such programs would be held across the state from February to November at a cost of Rs 18 crore to impart highly skilled training to farmers.
Earlier in their presentation before the Chief Minister, Vice Chancellor of NIFTEM Dr. Ajit Kumar and Additional Secretary Union Food Processing Ministry JP Meena apprised the Chief Minister that there was a tremendous scope of Food Processing Industry in the state. They informed Badal that out of total 38 Food Parks in the country three were in Punjab and this number could be enhanced with active support of state government.
Punjab Food Processing Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, Advisor Animal Husbandry Dr BK Uppal, Additional Chief Secretaries Suresh Kumar and Mandeep Singh Sandhu, besides other officials were present in the meeting.