Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Tribal Welfare P. Pushpa Srivani has asked the officials to initiate measures to strengthen the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) and make it profitable. She was addressing the staff after a review meet on the GCC and coffee business here on Saturday.
Ms. Srivani said that the GCC should strive to face the competition by improving the quality of the products. She said that the GCC should go to the interior villages of the Agency and should procure products from the farmers. This will be thoroughly monitored, she added.
The Minister said that processing units of coffee, turmeric and other products will be set up in the Agency. The Minister said that she would urge the Chief Minister to ensure turmeric, tamarind and a few other GCC products be used in temples under the Endowments Department. This would benefit the tribals, she added.
The Deputy Chief Minister also stressed the need to protect GCC lands and added that if required they would permit construction of shopping complexes in GCC lands.
Tribal Welfare Secretary Kantilal Dande said that they would deploy mobile vans to sell GCC products in the weekly-shandies and at the tourist places in Visakhapatnam.
Araku MP G. Madhavi, Paderu MLA K. Bhagya Lakshmi and others were present.
