Chandigarh, April 30:
The wheat procurement operations are going on at rapid pace in the mandis throughout the state and till now, 114 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of produce has arrive in the mandis out of which 111 LMT has been procured.
Stating this here today at anaj bhawan while interacting with the media, the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Mr. Lal Chand Kataruchak further revealed that the procurement by the Government agencies has crossed 100 LMT mark and currently stands at 103 LMT. As regards the payments to the farmers, an amount to the tune of Rs. 22815 Crore has been credited into the accounts of farmers, said the Minister adding till date 6,28,674 farmers have brought their produce into the mandis. The lifting is also picking up speed and 47.37 Lakh Metric Tonne has been lifted which is 56.6 percent as per the 72 hour norms.
Furthermore, in order to ensure smooth & hassle free procurement, a total of 2885 procurement centres have been established in the state and out of these 1864 are regular while 1021 are the temporary ones. The Minister also disclosed that this time around, the yield has been very high which has led to the bumper crop in Punjab. This would help a great deal in successfully meeting the target of 124 LMT.
Divulging more, Mr. Kataruchak mentioned that he is visiting the mandis throughout the state at regular intervals and not even a single farmer has complained regarding the arrangements made at the mandis. All the necessary amenities such as bardana, proper sanitation, drinking water and wooden crates have been ensured.
Among others present on the occasion included the Principal Secretary Rahul Tewari, Additional Secretary Kamal Kumar Garg, and Additional Director Dr. Anjuman Bhaskar.
