58 airports on national and international routes are assigned to assist the farmers under the Krishi Udan Scheme, according to the latest report by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Retd. Gen. Dr V.K. Singh in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing winter session of the parliament.
According to the report, special emphasis is given to the airports of the North East, hilly regions and tribal areas under the scheme for better facilities for the farmers. About 25 airports located in such regions are covered by the scheme.
Under the Krishi Udan Scheme, the government assists farmers in transporting agricultural products to ensure seamless, cost-effective, time-bound air delivery of perishable agricultural goods to markets across the country.
Airports under the Krishi Udan Scheme
Airports located in Port Blair, Arunachal Pradesh (Tezu), Assam (Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Lilabari, Silchar, Tezpur), Himachal Pradesh (Bhuntar, Gaggal and Shimla), Odisha (Jharsuguda), Sikkim (Pakyong), Mizoram (Lengpui), and Uttarakhand (Pitthoragarh and Pantnagar) are among such airports that connect hilly, remote or tribal regions by air.
Major cities such as Visakhapatnam, Patna, Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram and Kolkata are also covered under the scheme.
Implementation of Krishi Udan Scheme
Under the Krishi Udan scheme, eight ministries/departments namely the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region work together towards implementation of the scheme.