Around 60,000 Odisha farmers receive free mobile phones to get easy access about agricultural activities

Bhubaneswar, December 14: With an aim to ease out and help farmers to get information related to agricultural activities and market, around 60,000 free mobile phones were distributed among farmers so, Odisha Assembly was informed on Wednesday. 

Cooperation Minister S.N. Patro said the state Assembly that 59,282 phones were distributed through Regulated Marketing Committees (RMCs).

Other farmers would also get mobile phones in phases as the state government has made a budgetary allocation this year and floated a tender for this purpose, the minister informed.

While 18,000 mobile phones were distributed among farmers in 2013-14, 41,282 mobile phones were provided to women farmers holding Kisan Credit Cards in 2016-17, he added.

The mobile phones are distributed under the scheme ‘Providing free mobile phone to farmers to access market information’ to enable them to get up to date information on prices of agricultural commodity prevailing in the different market.

The market price of agriculture produces were being given under Digitalmandi for Indian Kisan scheme and the farmers are taking advantage knowing the market price of their produces, the minister said. About 15,000 farmers out of the total farmers who received cell phones are receiving messages of agricultural information in Odia language, he informed.