The Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) has demanded the State government to install cold storage facilities in the Garo Hills region to prevent post-harvest losses and to strengthen the rural economy.
The youth congress said the matter requires urgent attention as it affects the livelihood of thousands of farmers across the region.
In a letter to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, MPYC President Timjim K Momin said farmers lose up to 30–40 per cent of their perishable crops due to the absence of cold storage and high humidity. “Garo Hills loses over Rs 500 crore annually due to spoilage and lack of infrastructure—weakening the rural economy and household incomes,” he said.
He highlighted that farmers had to resort to distress sales and face daily financial insecurity. Women-led SHGs and roadside vendors suffer most, with vegetables and bamboo-shoot among the most perishable and frequently wasted items, he added.
Without reliable storage and market connectivity, agriculture is becoming economically unviable, forcing rural youth to migrate and disengage from farming, Momin suggested the government to construct large-scale cold storage units in each district headquarters in Tura, Williamnagar, Baghmara, Resubelpara, and Ampati and solar-powered mini cold rooms in key rural aggregation and transit points such as Rongjeng, Zikzak, Dalu, Chokpot, Kharkutta, Jengjal, Gasuapara and Adokgre.
Momin said the government could also promote community ownership and empower FPOs, SHGs, and cooperatives to manage and operate these units, with technical and financial support from relevant departments and to ensure infrastructure and logistics integration link cold storage facilities with PMGSY and PWD road networks, Mendipathar Railway Station Local mandis and primary markets.
He suggested convergence of government schemes for effective delivery like PM-FME, MIDH, NABARD RIDFMBMA, CMSA, CM FARM, State Horticulture and Agri Marketing Boards.
Further, Momin suggested formation of a Cold Chain Task Force under the Planning Department to oversee planning, implementation, and inter-departmental coordination and to allocate targeted funding in the state budget to build and maintain cold chain infrastructure in Garo Hills, helping recover the estimated Rs 500 crore loss of each year.
“This is more than a policy demand. It is a call to restore economic dignity. Garo Hills has the resources, the people, and the potential. What we need is a strategic intervention and your leadership to ensure that the fruits of our farmers’ labour do not end up wasted on the roadside,” he said in the letter.
