Mission Veggies launched

The proposal was cleared by the Consultative Committee of Members of Parliament attached to the Agriculture Ministry. The Planning Commission has approved of it and the body is now awaiting a nod from the Cabinet.

Some of the areas that the NHM will look into include the increased demand for nutritional security, improvement in the income of farmers, value addition to agriculture products and increased availability of vegetables per person per day.

The NHM will also provide incentives for setting up horticulture processing industries and food parks in potential areas, besides establishing linkages between markets for the horticulture produce and processing industry.

The Mission will have a general council at the national level under the chairmanship of the Agriculture Minister, with ministers and secretaries from the concerned ministries as members. This will be the policy-making body and will give overall directions for the programme.

The total Budget requirement for the NHM during the 10th Plan is estimated to be Rs 5974 crore. The requirement of the funds for 2004-05 will be to the tune of Rs 745 crore.