Context

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 100th run of Kisan Rail in Maharashtra with the objective to empower farmers of the country.

About

What is Kisan Rail?

• The first Kisan Rail train service on the Indian Railways network was launched on 7 August 2020. The train runs between Devlali in Maharashtra and Danapur in the state of Bihar.
• The Kisan Rail consists of 10 parcel vans as well as one luggage cum brake van and operates on a weekly basis.
• The first-ever multi-commodity train service, the Kisan Rail carries vegetables such as cauliflower, capsicum, cabbage, drumsticks, chillies, onion, etc., as well as fruits like grapes, pomegranate, banana, etc.
• Equipped with frozen containers, the Kisan Rail train service is building a seamless national cold supply chain of meat, milk, and fish.

Key-highlights

• The 100th run of the Kisan Rail was flagged off from Sangola in Maharashtra to Shalimar in West Bengal virtually. 
• Currently, of only a handful of trains plying across the India connecting states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Nagpur, there are nine Kisan Rail running on nine routes.

Significance of the initiative

• Seamless national cold supply chain: This train will help in bringing perishable agricultural products like vegetables, fruits to the market in a short period of time. The train with frozen containers is expected to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of fish, meat and milk.
• Doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022: This train is a step towards realizing the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022. Indian Railways aims to help double farmers’ income with the launch of Kisan Rail.