Aurangabad, Jul 23 (PTI) A government-aided hatchery in Aurangabad that provided chicks to farmers in rural areas has been shut for seven months now and an official on Friday said it needed at least Rs 1 crore as fund infusion to resume operations.

The hatchery, in Padgaon, has the capacity to raise 4,000 hens and incubate some 15,000 eggs per week, but lack of funds had stopped the facility, Assistant Commissioner (Animal Husbandry) Dr Manohar Deore told PTI.

"We owed Rs 36 lakh to feed suppliers, of which Rs 28 lakh has now been paid. We need at least Rs 1 crore to get the facility up and running again. Lack of funds has closed it for the past seven months. We used to keep 50 per cent of chicks for government schemes and we would sell the rest to farmers at stipulated rates when the hatchery was functional," he said.

He said restarting operations would greatly help farmers as they used to get chicks at Rs 20 per piece from the hatchery, while the rate was Rs 28-30 with private dealers.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)