Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has said that his government will soon launch a project to provide 10,000 cows to 5,000 farmer families through bank loans to generate employment and meet the demand of milk in the state.

Under the project, farmers will have to buy cows with the help of bank loans, interest of which will be paid by the state government, Deb told a meeting of BJP's peasant wing 'Tripura Pradesh Krishak Morcha' here Sunday.

Villages will be identified and beneficiaries selected from those villages, he was quoted to have said in the meeting, a statement issued by state BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said.

"The government will provide 10,000 cows to 5000 farmer families .. to help solve unemployment problem to some extent, fulfil the demand of milk and help crushing malnutrition," the chief minister said.

The government will also take measures to procure milk and arrange marketing, he said adding that the project would be operational by December this year.

The chief minister also said that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) would soon buy paddy directly from farmers.

He alleged that the previous Left Front government did not pay any heed to the problems of the farmers and many cultivators indulged in producing cannabis in the state.

"We have stopped it and now they are cultivating pulses," he said.

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