Ranchi, March 18 The Jharkhand government will set up cold storage facilities in each assembly constituency across the state, Agriculture Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey told the assembly on Wednesday.
Responding to a question, she said that a cold storage facility with a capacity of 5,000 metric tonnes has either been established or is being constructed in each district.
"For the 2026-27 financial year, we have made a budgetary provision to construct one cold storage facility in every assembly constituency, based on the recommendations of the members," Tirkey said while responding to Dumri MLA Jairam Mahto.
He alleged that farmers are being forced to sell their produce at distress prices due to a shortage of cold storage facilities.
"Currently, we either have a cold storage facility with a capacity of 5,000 metric tonnes in the district, or such a facility is being built," the agriculture minister said.
In response to Mahto's question about whether the government intends to provide loans to farmers against their produce stored in cold storage, Tirkey said that there is no such proposal yet.
BJP MLA Raj Sinha raised the issue of the collapse of a portion of an eight-lane road in Dhanbad district on Tuesday and demanded an investigation into the matter.
Sinha claimed that the 20-km road was built at a cost of Rs 461.9 crore, but a portion of the road caved in eight times in the past 17 months.
Responding to the issue, Parliamentary Affairs minister Radhakrishna Kishore said that the government would conduct an investigation if misuse of funds was found.