An MoU was signed today between CSC SPV and the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer's Welfare, Government of India to convert FPOs registered under the ‘Formation & Promotion of 10,000 FPOs scheme’ into CSCs and help them to deliver citizen-centric services. It was signed by Shri Sanjay Rakesh, MD & CEO, CSC SPV, and Shri Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Additional Secretary - Ministry of Agriculture in the august presence of Shri Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
As per the MoU, 10,000 FPOs will be converted into CSCs. CSC SPV will enable them to provide the services that are available on the Digital Seva Portal. Training and Capacity Building of FPOs will be done by CSCs.
The Government of India launched the Central Sector Scheme for “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)” in the year 2020 that is enabling farmers to enhance their bargaining power, leverage economies of scale, reduce in cost of production, and enhance farmers’ incomes through aggregation of their agricultural produce, thus playing a major role towards sustainable incomes. After today’s initiative, the delivery of CSC services through FPOs will increase employment opportunities in rural areas.
CSC has always strived to improve the lives of citizens in rural areas through various initiatives. Farmers and agriculture are an integral part of the initiative. Thanks to the vast network of CSCs present in remote areas of the country, they are already providing various services to the farmers through teleconsultation, crop insurance, e-veterinary, Kisan Credit Card, and PM Kisan schemes.
During the program, Shri Sanjay Rakesh, MD-CEO, CSC SPV, said, “It is a matter of immense pleasure that 10,000 FPOs will now function as Common Services Centres. With this initiative, more farmers who are associated with FPOs will be able to avail the benefits of CSC services. This will enable FPOs to provide citizens with all the services that are available on CSC Scheme's Digital Seva Portal.”
This initiative will give a new dimension to the movement of rural development and digital empowerment in the country. There will be an immense increase in agriculture-related services of CSC. It will also help FPOs to become a nodal center for providing various services like Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Interest Subsidy Scheme (ISS), Crop Insurance Scheme (PMFBY), and fertilizer and seed inputs.
During the program, Shri Kapil Ashok Bendre, Director (Mktg.), Ministry of Agriculture, Shri Subodh Mishra, Vice President-CSC SPV, and Shri Devinder Rustagi, Consultant-CSC SPV were also present.
