Sanawad (Khargone district, Madhya Pradesh): State agriculture minister Kamal Patel inaugurated the newly developed chilli mandi in Bedia village, about 17 kilometres from Sanawad tehsil headquarters, on Saturday.
Mandi has been developed at a cost of Rs 5.45 crore by the state government. Bedia village is one of the largest chilli producing areas in the country. It is known for cultivation of red chillies.
Addressing the inaugural function, Patel said farmers and traders have been demanding chilli mandi since a long time as old mandi was located in middle of Bedia village. “Fulfilling villagers’ demand, we are inaugurating newly developed mandi for farmers and traders today,” he added.
The agriculture minister asked officials to ensure that farmers have an easy access to mandi from their fields. He stressed on building approach roads to farms where large transport vehicles can reach.
Speaking further, Patel said hotels, restaurants, schools, colleges and most establishments were closed during corona pandemic but farmers and labourers worked hard and strengthened country’s economy besides feeding more than 130 crore Indians. “Government is giving special emphasis on socio-economic uplift of poor and farmers. So, there is no need to worry,” he remarked.
Agriculture minister Patel, who was on a day-long visit here, announced an amount of Rs 5 crore for upgradation of newly constructed market so that it can be developed as a model mandi. The agriculture minister also inaugurated a multi-purpose cold storage built by the Government of India at cost of Rs 5 crore at old chilli mandi and sub-tehsil office built for Rs 85 lakh.
Senior BJP leader and former MP Krishna Murari Moghe, Khargone MP Gajendra Patel, Rajya Sabha MP Sumersingh Solanki, Barwah MLA Sachin Birla, former MLAs Hitendra Singh Solanki, Atmaram Patel, former MLA Babulal Mahajan, district collector Anugrah P, superintendent of police Shailendra Singh Chouhan and others were present on the occasion.