Punjab News:Punjab Government will procure every single grain of farmers’ crop: Lal Chand Kataruchak
Punjab News:Punjab Government will procure every single grain of farmers’ crop: Lal Chand Kataruchak
– Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister reviews paddy procurement arrangements at Tarn Taran grain market
– Says, paddy procurement in the state is going on smoothly and uninterrupted
– Payment being made directly into bank accounts of farmers within 24 hours
– Rs 42,786 crore CCL received for paddy procurement
– Target to procure 180 lakh metric tonnes of paddy for central pool
– Appeals to farmers to bring only dry paddy to mandis
The Punjab Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak today reviewed the paddy procurement arrangements at the Tarn Taran grain market.
On this occasion, he said that the Punjab Government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann will procure every single grain of the crop produced with the hard work of farmers. He said that government procurement of paddy in the state has already started from October 1 and farmers will not be allowed to face any kind of difficulty while selling their crop in the mandis.
On the occasion, he also got the crop of farmer Sulakhan Singh of village Karmuwala and farmer Shamsher Singh of village Sakhira procured. While reviewing procurement, lifting, payment, gunny bags and other arrangements in the mandi, he gave necessary directions to the concerned officers. On the occasion, he also interacted with farmers, commission agents and labourers.
The Cabinet Minister said that this year bumper paddy crop is arriving in the mandis and the quality of the crop is also better. He informed that during the procurement season, a target has been set to procure 180 lakh metric tonnes of paddy for the central pool. He said that to achieve this target, all concrete arrangements have been made in the mandis by the state government.
He informed that payment to farmers for their crop is being made in a transparent manner directly into their bank accounts. He said that Cash Credit Limit (CCL) of Rs. 42,786 crore has been received, which has ensured adequate financial arrangements for paddy procurement.
He appealed to the farmers to harvest only after the crop is fully matured and dried and to bring only dry paddy conforming to prescribed specifications to the mandis. This will ensure they get the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs. 2,461 per quintal for their crop and they will not have to wait unnecessarily in the mandis.
The Cabinet Minister said that comprehensive arrangements have been made in all the mandis of the state to run the procurement season smoothly, transparently and without any interruption. He directed the officials of the procurement agencies that there should be no difficulty in procurement, lifting and payment of the crop arriving in the mandis. He said that problems of farmers should be resolved on the spot.
On the issue of stubble burning, the Cabinet Minister said that protecting the sacred land and environment of Punjab is our collective moral responsibility. He said that the Punjab Government has made concrete arrangements for proper management of paddy stubble. He appealed to the farmers not to burn stubble and to support the government in protecting the environment.
He said that better coordination between farmers, commission agents, millers, labourers, procurement agencies and concerned departments is very essential to make the procurement season successful.
On this occasion, Deputy Director Food and Supplies Department Rajnish Kumari, District Food and Supplies Controller Harveen Kaur, District Mandi Officer Harjot Singh, DSP Jaspal Singh, District Chairman of Traders Commission Harmandeep Singh Maini, Halqa Incharge of Traders Commission and President Arhtiya Association Dilbag Singh Batth, General Secretary Pawel Singh Pannu, Patron Sarjit Singh Chohla, Gurinder Singh Lali Chacha, Surinder Singh Bhuchar, Bahal Singh Gill and Paramjit Joshi besides other dignitaries were also present.