Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi showed his concern over poor return received by the farmers against their crops and claimed that he wanted his Parliamentary constituency to convert into an agriculture hub so that fortune of the cultivators could also be changed.
``I wanted to make this area an agriculture hub and the best way is through installing food processing units as its give best price for any produce", asserted Rahul Gandhi while showing that the farmers are the worst sufferers and only the multinationals selling processed foods were minting huge sum. He said that the farmers sell potatoes at Rs 6 to Rs 10 a Kg but the companies sell chips out of it in more than Rs 400 so if the processing facilities has been directly forwarded to farmers they fortune could be changes in the coming days. He further said that while UP produces some famous varieties of mango, which are even exported to countries like US and Britain, the farmers who grow it get paltry returns.
Rahul made the above call while addressing the local public soon after laying the foundation stone of the first mega food park in the campus of Indo-Gulf Fertilisers in Jagdishpur locality of Amethi on Monday morning. 'like Bangalore has been developed due to Hindustan Aeronautics ltd (HAl), this Mega Food Park will change the prospect of the farmers in UP,' he claimed. He said several fruits and vegetables would be processed in this Mega Food Park like mangoes, amla, potatoes and other items.
`'The people of Amethi are my family and now Kumar Manglam Birla, who would be setting up this mega food park, has joined the family,' he said. He added that Fursatganj would be developed as an international airport to export the processed items. However, Rahul Gandhi announced another sop for his Parliamentary constituency saying that closed down Hindustan Paper Mill would be re-opened, giving jobs to 10,000 people. Congress MP said the day was not far away when UP will be among top states in exports of processed food, changing the entire scenario of the country. He added that the farmers would also get the benefits of selling their items from their homes to the processing units. 'We and the Birlas with the support of the people of Amethi will fulfill the dream of Rajivji,' he stated. Minister of state for Agriculture and Food Processing Charan Das Mahant said by opening the mega food park,
the dream of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has been fulfilled by his son Rahul. He said UP needs about 10 such mega food parks to fulfill the dreams of the former Prime Minister.
Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said they used to enjoy a close relationship with the Nehru-Gandhi family since long and Rahul Gandhi has strengthened it by laying the foundation of the Shaktiman Mega Food Park on Monday. 'Twenty five years ago, Rajiv Gandhi had inaugurated the Indo-Gulf Fertilisers and now his son is doing it for the mega park,' he said. Announcing that his company will invest Rs 200 crore in the initial stages to set up 40 units of food processing units
here, Birla said the units will benefit 40,000 farmers and provide indirect jobs to 25,000 people. 'This food park will be a milestone for UP,' he stressed. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi also inaugurated a customized fertiliser plant of Indo-Gulf Fertiliser unit in Amethi.