Project for mandis under Bundelkhand package fails to take off

The Mandi Parishad was sanctioned Rs 693 crore by the Central government as special assistance under the Bundelkhand package. The funds were meant for setting up new sale-purchase centres for agricultural produce and small sale points. The first installment of Rs 320 crore for big centres and Rs 164 crore for smaller sale points was released by the Centre in November 2011.

The Mandi Parishad shortlisted seven districts of Bundelkhand for setting up new sale-purchase centres and smaller sale points. The districts include Jhansi,Lalitpur,Mahoba,Banda,Chitrakoot,Jalaun and Hamirpur. The big sale-purchase centres,referred to as mandis in local parlance,were to come up at district headquarters while the sale points were to be set up after every 10 km on an area of 100 square metres as per the requirements.

It was conceived that these centres would provide a ready market close to the farmers so that they can get appropriate prices for their produce. The land for these centres was to be purchased from the Mandi Parishad’s own resources.

However,the Mandi Parishad has not been able to provide land in three districts — Mahoba,Lalitpur and Jhansi. It purchased land in the other districts. However,during the 2011-12 fiscal,it could not initiate construction of any of the centres.

The Central government dispatched many reminders to the Mandi Parishad for starting the project for farmers’ welfare in the backward region. However,the project remained a non-starter. Then the Centre informed Mandi Parishad officials that due to non-utilisation of funds,they would have to surrender the funds at the end of fiscal 2011-12. The officials requested for an extension of time limit,and a three-month grace period ending June 30 was allowed by the Central government.

With hardly a week left for the deadline,the Mandi Parishad director has initiated an internal inquiry to fix the blame for non-utilisation of the funds. The probe is being conducted by Finance Controller,Jagdish Chandra Pandey.

Director,Mandi Parishad,Satyendra Singh admitted the delay. “We cannot get away by saying that model code of conduct was enforced so construction could not be started. Responsibility has to be fixed for the delay,” he said.