Question : Gramin Haats

(a) the number of Gramin Haats modernised under the Gramin Agriculture Market Scheme till date along with the details thereof, State-wise;

(b) the current status of the Scheme along with the details of the outcome of the modernisation process achieved till date;

(c) whether there is any plan/proposal to modernise the remaining Gramin Haats and if so, the proposed timeline thereof;

(d) whether the Government is aware that there are no Gramin Haats in Rajasthan;

(e) the reasons for the lack of Gramin Haats in Rajasthan; and

(f) whether the Government has taken any measure to ensure establishment of Gramin Haats in the regions which lack the same and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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(a) to (c): As per Union Budget Announcement, 2018-19, the Government has decided to develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs). As a part of modernization, strengthening of physical infrastructure and facilities in Gramin Agriculture Markets (GrAMs) such as platform, drinking water, drainage etc. is carried out under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) programme. So far, development of physical infrastructure has been undertaken in 1154 Gramin haats in the country under MGNREGA programme. State-wise details of Gramin haats undertaken under MGNREGA is at Annexure-I.

The Government has approved an Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund (AMIF) with a corpus of Rs. 2000 crore for developing and upgrading agricultural marketing infrastructure in the GrAMs and Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Markets and circulated the Scheme Guidelines to the States/Union Territories (UTs) for submission of proposal under the Scheme.

Further, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) has circulated Guidelines on ‘Operation and Management of GrAMs’ to all States/UTs to facilitate and promote better management in GrAMs.

(d) to (f): Directorate of Marketing and Inspection (DMI), an attached of DAC&FW has been undertaking a survey of rural haats to find out their location, throughout, periodicity and infrastructural status etc. As per information received from DMI, total number of 152 rural haats have so far been surveyed in State of Rajasthan.