Radha Mohan Singh launches e-NAM mobile app

NEW DELHI:India's Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh has  announced successfully completion of e-NAM first phase and launched e-NAM Mobile App in New Delhi.

The Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Parshottam Rupala was also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Radha Mohan Singh announced that most of the implementation issues faced in pilot phase have been addressed and e-NAM platform is connected to 250 markets across 10 States as of now (Andhra Pradesh (12), Chhattisgarh (05), Gujarat (40), Haryana (36), Himachal Pradesh (07), Jharkhand (08), Madhya Pradesh (20), Rajasthan (11), Telangana (44), Uttar Pradesh (67). Union Minister informed that so far, Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for integrating 399 mandis with e-NAM has been received from 14 states and all of them have been approved.

Singh said that the active involvement of all stakeholders, and in particular mandi and marketing board officials; the NAM programme is a success and is going ahead of schedule. Minister is sure that e-NAM will significantly contribute towards enhancing the farmer’s income. Agriculture Minister informed that so far, 1, 53,992.7 MT of agriculture produce worth Rs. 421 crore has been transacted on e-NAM platform and 1,60,229 Farmers, 46,688 Traders and 25,970 Commission Agents have been registered on the e-NAM platform.

Union Minister said that quality parameters for 69 agricultural and horticultural commodities including cereals, Pulses, Oil seeds, Spices, Fruits and Vegetables have been notified for trading on e-NAM platorm. States have been asked to set up the quality assaying facilities to ensure quality assessment of the farmer’s produce in a scientific and professional manner.

Singh said that provision of online payment of the sale proceeds to the farmers is made available in the e-NAM portal and States are requested to encourage direct transfer of sales proceeds to the farmer’s bank account. A total number of 585 markets are targeted to be integrated in first phase with e-NAM by March 2018, out of which 400 markets will be integrated by March 2017.

Agriculture Minister said that the issues in hardware and software during implementation of the project have been resolved and a new version of software has been released whereby trading is going on in a stable manner. He informed that the newer versions of software will be released in future as per actual requirements.

Singh informed that the status of APMC Act reforms regarding e-NAM, carried out by various States/UTs is as under:

 17 States and 1 UT have fully / partially modified their APMC Acts. Their names are : Andhra Pradesh, Gurajat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Haryana and Chandigarh (UT).

 03 States and 1 UT have APMC Act and they have consented to bring changes in the act which is under process. Their names are: Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Assam and Puducherry.

 06 States have APMC Act but no change has been made as yet. Their names are: Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi. Out of them, West Bengal has demanded the e-NAM software for online trading.

 01 state Sikkim does have APMC Act but is not implemented.

 03 States and 04 UTs do not have any APMC Act. Their names are: Bihar, Kerala, Manipur, Andman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshwadeep Islands, Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. These states have been requested to frame Act/Regulations to enable trading through e-NAM. A meeting with Bihar and Kerala has been scheduled on 14/10/2016 in this regard.

Singh appealed to those states whose APMC Act require complete or partial changes, to join the scheme by reforming their Acts on priority. Union Minister also appealed to those states where APMC Act does not exist, to join the e-NAM scheme by framing necessary act/regulation so that farmers could benefit by way of enhanced income.

Agriculture Minister said that e-NAM will bring forth more profit to farmers, availability of trade at lesser cost to the buyers and development of permanent mandis. It will enable the farmers to have access to the National Market having wide choice.