KISAN RAIL [UPSC Notes]

The Hon’ble Finance Minister, in the 2020-21 Union Budget, announced that the Indian Railways  will set up a  “Kisan Rail”. This is an important development and IAS aspirants must know all the important features of this programme for the IAS exam. In this article, we have discussed all you need to know about the Kisan Rail.

KISAN RAIL

Small and marginal farmers often face the difficulty of transporting their produce beyond a specified distance. This can be attributed to a number of factors like the non-availability of affordable transport, the reluctance of the transporters to carry small-sized consignments, and delay in transit causing damage/decay to produce.

To overcome these challenges that prevent small and marginal farmers to reach larger markets, the Government of India in the Union Budget of 2020-21 proposed the launch of ‘Kisan Rail’. It was announced that Indian railways would establish ‘Kisan Rail’ to transport perishable goods including fish, meat, and milk.

Purpose of Kisan Rail

• The objective behind launching Kisan Rail services is to transport perishable items like dairy products, poultry, fruits, vegetables, meat, fishery, etc from regions of high production (or surplus regions) to regions of high consumption (or deficient regions).
• It also ensures quick movement thereby causing minimum damage during transit.
• It would enable farmers to use the vast network of Indian railways network and gain access to distant, bigger, and more lucrative markets. This in turn would double farmers’ income which is a long-standing vision of the government. It would ensure better price realization for farmers and improve the trade and actual returns for farmers.

Salient Features

• The huge network of Indian Railways enables farmers (particularly small and marginal farmers) from remote villages to connect to the mainstream market and sell their agricultural produce.
• It saves time and encourages farmers to sell their produce to bigger markets and greater distances.
• A 50 percent subsidy is given in freight (being borne by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries) for the transportation of fruits and vegetables.
• These Rails are based on the concepts of multi-commodity, multi-consignee, multi-consignor,  and multi-stoppages. This would help small farmers with lesser produce to transport their consignment without any middleman.
• Moreover, there is no minimum limit on the quantity that can be booked.

Other Details

• The first Kisan Rail Service was flagged off between Devlali (Maharashtra) and Danapur (Bihar) on 7th August 2020.
• In order to use the Kisan Rail service, farmers have to approach the Chief Parcel Supervisor of the Railway Stations along with their consignment. It should be ensured that the packing condition is not faulty. The weight of the consignment is measured and charges are levied on the basis of prescribed parcel rates called P-scale.
• A subsidy of 50% is given on the freight implying that farmers are charged only half for their consignments. This subsidy is borne by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries under the ambit of the Operation Greens – TOP to Total scheme. Initially, the subsidy was on limited (notified) types/ categories of fruits and vegetables but this has been expanded with time.
• Adequate stoppage time has been provided at specified stations to ensure smooth loading and unloading of consignments.

Performance of the Kisan Rail service

• Kisan Rail services have been availed by a large number of farmers to transport fruits and vegetables, like bananas, capsicum, chilies, potato, tomato, cauliflower, ginger, garlic, onions,  apples, oranges, guava, melons, grapes,  papaya, pomegranate, kiwi, etc.
• Eligible articles for subsidy includes:
  • Fruits: apple, mango, kiwi, banana, guava, litchi, papaya, mosambi, orange, kinnow, lemon, lime, pineapple, pomegranate, almond, aonla, passion fruit and pear.
  • Vegetables: Brinjals, French beans, capsicum, carrot, bitter gourd, chilies, Okra, cauliflower, cucumber, peas, garlic, potato, onion, tomato.
  • Additional commodities: Turmeric and mandarin.
• Apart from fruits and vegetables, it is also used to transport perishables like flowers, eggs, dairy products, fish, etc.
• Sixty routes have been operationalized till June 2021 and 157 Kisan rail were operated transporting Fifty thousand tonnes of perishables till January 2021.
• Temperature-controlled Perishable Cargo Centres have been established at Nashik, New Azadpur, Singur, Raja Ka Talab/Varanasi, Ghazipur, and Fatuha. 
• To strengthen the food chain supply, Indian Railways withdrew the surcharge applied to the food grains during the busy season.
• It should be noted that no Kisan Rails has been introduced through Public Private Partnership arrangements so far.

Issues and Way Ahead

• A considerable amount of time is wasted in packaging, loading-unloading, and accessing multiple points often resulting in wastage. This needs to be addressed.
• The cold storage infrastructure also needs to be improved to avoid wastage and spillage.
• It is often suggested that e-NAM should integrate with nearly 1000 mandis to further streamline the process.

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