· With Rs. 17340.40 crore in farmers accounts, 100 percent payments done
· Chief Secretary takes stock of procurement arrangements in a meeting with senior officers & DCs
Chandigarh, April 30:
Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma today said that out of 100.58 LMT Wheat arriving so far in State’s grain markets more than 95 percent stands procured due to the uninterrupted procurement process. The farmers who have sold their produce have been paid for the same to the extent of 100 percent with Rs. 17340.40 in their bank accounts.
During a meeting with the top officers of the procurement agencies and the Deputy Commissioners in order to review the procurement process, the Chief Secretary directed that it must be ensured that no farmer faces any kind of issues for selling his produce in the mandis and further, no stone should be left unturned to make robust arrangements for dealing with the situation arising due to the unseasonal rains. The Chief Secretary said that required facilities have been provided to facilitate the farmers, arhtiyas and the labourers to ensure smooth procurement.
Divulging more, Mr. Anurag Verma said that till now, a total of 100.58 LMT of Wheat has arrived in the state mandis out of which 95.83 LMT has been procured which is in excess of 95 pecent. Notably, during the present year 132 LMT of Wheat is expected to arrive in the mandis and in view of the abovesaid data, 75 percent produce is already there. The Chief Secretary also divulged that as per the rules of making payments within 48 hours, 100 percent payments have been made with Rs. 17340.40 in the accounts of the farmers. For lifting facilitation, today 27 special trains are running and the government is committed to procure every single grain.
Among others present in the meeting included the Principal Secretary Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Vikas Garg, MD Punjab Warehousing Corporation Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar, MD PUNSUP Sonali Giri, Director Food , Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Puneet Goyal, Secretary Punjab Mandi Board Amrit Kaur Gill, GM FCI B.N. Srinivasan and AMD Markfed Sundeep Singh Garha.
