Govt to provide Android phones to farmers

The State Government has decided to provide Android smart phones to farmers, said Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare and Cooperation Minister Surjya Narayan Patro here on Friday.

As many as about 2,000 farmers of each district would get the smart phones, for which Rs 3 crore would be spent, he told the media.

A high-level committee comprising technical officials has been formed to work on the project, he added.

Earlier, the Government had provided free mobile phones to farmers under the scheme ‘Providing free mobile phone to farmers to access market information’ to enable them to have updated information on prices of agricultural commodities prevailing in the different market.

However, the latest move to distribute Android phones among farmers could be seen as another master stroke by the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD Government to woo the farmers ahead of the 2019 general elections.