Chandigarh, June 28, 2019 (Yes Punjab News)
Union food processing industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today asked chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to personally intervene and direct Punjab Agro Industries Corporation (PAIC) to operationalise the Ladhowal mega food park by end of next month failing which the Food Processing ministry would be constrained to terminate the project.
In a letter to the chief minister today, Mrs Harsimrat Badal said the Ladhowal food park was taken up for implementation by PAIC after a grant of Rs 50 crore from the food processing ministry. She said the Park was approved in November 2015 and was slated to be completed in May 2018.
Mrs Badal said despite the fact that she had been consistently reviewing the progress of the work there was a complete lack of initiative from PAIC to stick to mandated schedules which was harming progressive farmers as well as youth who were slated to get employment at the facility.
The union minister reminded the chief minister that she had taken up the issue of timely inauguration and operationalisation of the Park with him on numerous occasions but no progress was being made to complete remaining works.
“The completion of the Park is being delayed for one reason for another”, Mrs Badal said while urging the chief minister once again expedite completion of the Park on top priority”. She said if this was not done the ministry would be constrained to terminate the project which would deprive the State of significant job opportunities because of its own apathy.
Giving further details, Mrs Badal said she had held the last review meeting in January, 2019 at the mega food park site where she was briefed that the tendering process for purchase of Spiral freezer and Pre-processing line had not been initiated ever after a lapse of six months. She said these facilities were yet to be installed because of the PAIC board’s failure to approve enhanced cost of the Spiral freezer.
Mrs Badal also informed the chief minister that her ministry had again reviewed the progress of the project on April 24 this year during the course of which PAIC had committed to install the transformer for the Cold storage and achieve commissioning of the Cold storage by May 2019 besides completing Panel room for Silos by ten days. “These facilities are also yet to be commissioned”, she informed.
The union minister reiterated the necessity to operationalise the Park at the earliest to generate employment for youth, to benefit farmers by adding value to their produce and promoting industry in Punjab. She also informed that she had already sanctioned two new projects in Punjab in her second stint in the food processing ministry including a cold chain in Ferozepur and a mini food park in Fazilka.
