From Orange spl to Keenu spl: Rlys mulls linking Kisan Trains to seasonal fruits, vegetables

Railways is considering linking its Kisan Trains with seasonal fruits and vegetables to benefit small farmers, senior ministry officials said Sunday, even as a political storm rs over new farm bills that promise one nation one market.

First off mark could be an Orange Special Kisan Train between Nagpur and Delhi and a Keenu Special from Punjab to West Bengal and Odisha during December and January, officials said.

Kisan Rail services were launched last month and have so far carried around 4,100 tonne of goods from farmers to markets across country. officials said y are still finalising details, but ded that y have received feedback from zonal railways about viability of running dedicated trains linking m with seasonal produce.

“ Orange and Keenu special trains are likely to be first ones to take off,” a senior official told PTI.

We want to ensure that se trains are beneficial to small scale farmers who are t able to book entire train, he said.

y can book as little as y want and still avail se services.Data available with PTI show that smallest consignment carried by Kisan Rail was a 3 kg pomegranate packet from Nasik to Muzaffarpur, and around 17 dozen eggs from Manm to Khandwa on August 14.Farmer in some states are protesting against three proposed legislations: Farmers' Produce Tre and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

y have been alleging that once passed, se bill would pave way for dismantling of minimum support price (MSP) system and leave farming community at "mercy" of big corporates. Shiromani Akali Dal, oldest BJP ally, has quit NDA over bills, while Opposition have been vehemently demanding ir withdrawal.

government has, however, said MSP regime would stay and called se bills as historic reforms. It has said bills would allow farmers to sell ir produce anywhere in country, fetching m better remunerative prices. Railways officials said that three Kisan Rails in operation -- between Devlali-Danapur, Anantpur-Delhi and Yashwantpur-Nizamuddin -- are running on 85 per cent capacity.

Besides Orange Special and Keenu Special, on anvil are also: Mango Special (Andhra Presh to Delhi between April to June), Onion Special (Nashik to Delhi, during March and December), Banana Special (Jalgaon to Delhi, during March and December); and Chiku Special (Surat, Vals, Navsari to Delhi) between April-vember.

Officials said that farr goods are sent, cheaper cost of ferrying m.Within a distance of 0-500 km, Railways services are expensive, but y are at par with roways for over 1,000 km distance, y said, ding that for over 2,000 km, Railways is cheaper than roways by at least Rs 1,000 per tonne.

se Kisan Trains will be part of zero-based time table that will be in effect soon, so even if regular services begin post-COVID-19, se trains will have dedicated routes and paths to operate on.

government and Railways are committed to rapidly increase farm incomes, said official quoted above. “Ensuring that farmers are able to sell ir produce across country to get best possible remuneration for produce is one of important ways to do so.” Kisan Rails represent one such determined freight marketing effort of Railways and it is expanding fast, he said.

Earlier, farmers preferred to use trucks, w y have started using Railways,he said, ding zonal teams are coordinating with Ministry of Agriculture and actively pursuing local authorities to encour farmers to use national transporter.

y can bring us as little as y want and as much as y want of ir produce and we will ferry m to ir chosen destination, said official. 

(Im Credits:PTI)