ANANTAPUR: The construction of nearly 151 horticulture collection centres and 44 solar cold storages in the erstwhile Anantapur district has encountered obstacles as members of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) are not contributing the required funds for the projects.
The centres were sanctioned under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). To facilitate farmers to store their produce, the government has sanctioned Rs 15 lakh for each centre, with a deadline of five years for its completion.
The FPOs, which were constituted with 50 to 1,000 members by the Horticulture Department, are supposed to contribute an equal amount towards the construction, with the government refunding the expenditure as a subsidy. However, due to a lack of contributions from FPO members, the necessary funds are not being pooled for construction.
Under the phase-I, the government has sanctioned Rs 22.65 crore for the construction of 151 collection centres with Rs 15 lakh for each centre respectively. Of the total expenditure, the Centre and State governments will bear 60% and 40%, wherein 75% of the amount i.e., Rs 11.25 lakh will be returned to the FPO groups as a subsidy whereas the FPO groups are supposed to bear a sum of Rs 3.75 lakh.
Similarly, Rs 5.50 crore has been sanctioned for the construction of 44 solar cold storage centres, including Rs 12.50 lakh for each centre, wherein again the FPO members were required to take up the construction of the centres.The FPO members are required to bear Rs 3.13 lakh out of Rs 12.5 lakh wherein they will be reimbursed Rs 9.37 lakh as subsidy.
With FPO groups requiring to bear the initial expenditure, many members are not coming forward to contribute funds citing higher expenditure.The required contributions for the construction of the centres have not been forthcoming, causing delays in the implementation of the project. As a result, only 28 collection centres and five solar cold storage centres have been completed so far.
Horticulture officials of Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts Raghunath Reddy and Chandrasekhar have acknowledged the delay in executing the projects and assured that necessary steps will be taken to expedite the works. They said funds have been sanctioned to some FPO groups.They directed the officials at the division level to submit weekly reports on the progress of construction.