In a major initiative aimed at supporting farming families, Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah announced that NAFED will earmark 1% of its annual profits for scholarships and career-development programmes for children of farmers.
Shah said the decision reflects the cooperative sector’s commitment to ensuring that the benefits of economic growth reach farming households directly. The scholarship fund is expected to help students from farmer families overcome financial constraints in pursuing higher education and building professional careers.
Highlighting the need to strengthen farmer-centric procurement systems, Shah also called upon NAFED and NCCF to procure every grain of pulses and other crops directly from farmers with complete transparency.
He stressed that the network of intermediaries should be eliminated so that the benefits and profits generated from agricultural trade flow directly to cultivators.