CHENNAI: Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R Sakkarapani said in the Assembly that three godowns each with a capacity of 3,400 MT will be constructed in Tiruppur, Ariyalur and Tiruppathur districts at cost of `10 crore in order to protect foodgrains from getting spoilt.
Replying to the debate on demand for grants, he said a total of 100 direct procurement centres will be constructed under MGNREGS funds, and paddy godowns with a capacity of for 1.17 lakh MT will be constructed in delta districts, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Madurai districts at Rs 95 crore.
Amudham supermarkets in Gopalapuram and Anna Nagar in Chennai will be renovated at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.
Meanwhile, the minister for cooperation KR Periakaruppan said two new farmer producers’ cooperative societies will be established in Salem and Pudukkottai in addition to godown and other facilities.
He said loans to purchase housing sites will be disbursed through cooperative banks, and the upper age limit for getting loans to the members of cooperative banks will be increased to 70 years from the existing 60 years.
Individual locker facilities will be established in Dharmapuri and Tirunelveli central cooperative banks at an estimate of Rs 39 lakh. The minister said a multipurpose hall will be constructed at Konganapuram branch of Tiruchengode Agriculture Producers Cooperative Marketing Society at a cost of Rs 97 lakh. “A soap manufacturing unit will also be established at a cost of Rs 19 lakh. 1500 PDS shops will be renovated. Measures will be taken to get ISO: 9001 certificates for 5,000 PDS shops of the cooperative department,” he said.
Periakaruppan said a cooperative museum will be established at Thirur in Thiruvallur district, where India’s first cooperative credit society was established in 1904, at a cost of Rs 1 crore. A total of 2,000 primary agriculture cooperative credit societies will be converted into multipurpose service centres with the support of NABARD, he added.