Rajya Sabha passes Coconut Development Board (Amendment) Bill

Rajya Sabha passed the Coconut Development Board (Amendment) Bill 2021 on July 30, 2021. The bill aims to make the Chairman of the Coconut Development Board a non-executive director.

Key Points

• Board members increased from 4 to 6 as after the revision.
• The states of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh will be able to nominate their representatives on the board.
• The bill will pave the way for the appointment of professionals as non-executive chairmen rather than government officials.

Benefits of this amendment

Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, stated that these amendments will benefit coconut growers and improve coconut cultivation in the area. The bill was passed to the uproar of the opposition parties. Opposition parties continued to protest Friday against the government’s alleged use of Pegasus spyware to spy on Indians and the three farm laws passed last year.

About Coconut Development Board

The Coconut Development Board (CBD) is a legal body under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of India, responsible for the comprehensive development of coconuts and coconut-related products. The board was established on January 12, 1981 and operates under the administrative control of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of India. Its headquarters is located in in Kochi, Kerala, and the regional offices are located in Bengaluru, Chennai and Guwahati. This board has six state centres which are situated at Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Thane, Patna, Hyderabad and Port Blair. It has 9 Demonstration cum Seed Production (DSP) Farms which are located in different locations across the country and as of now this board maintains 7 farms. In Delhi, a Market Development cum Information Centre has been established. The Board has also set up a Technology Development Centre at Vazhakulam which is located near Aluva in the state of Kerala.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2021