Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister exhorts farmers to bring dry produce in mandis
Anyone bringing paddy from outside Punjab to face strict action
Taking stock of paddy procurement by making personal visits to mandis, reveals Minister
Chandigarh, October 6:
Living up to its commitment of zero difficulties for the farmers, Arhtiyas and the Labourers, the Punjab Government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has gone full throttle on its promise to ensure a hassle free Paddy Procurement Season 2026-27. This is amply clear from the fact that amount to the tune of nearly Rs. 800 Crore has been deposited into the accounts of 19222 farmers.
Divulging this here today during a meeting, the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Mr. Lal Chand Kataruchak said that till now, he has visited various mandis in 10 Districts namely Gurdaspur, Patiala, Amritsar, Tarntaran, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Kapurthala to take stock of the procurement.
It is a matter of great pride that during my visit to various mandis there has not been even a single complaint from any farmer or other stakeholders, said the Minister adding that now the payments to the farmers are being made even earlier than the stipulated time frame of 24 hours.
Further, full vigil is being maintained at all the inter State points to ensure that no paddy from outside the State is brought to the mandis.
In this connection, a person hailing allegedly from Haryana was today caught at Jalalabad bringing paddy from outside Punjab into the State. An enquiry at the department level is going on and nobody indulging in such a devious act would go unpunished, added Mr. Kataruchak.
Appreciating the officers and other staff of the department for the current smooth pace of the procurement process, the Minister exhorted them to make sure that the pace of the procurement doesn’t slackens even a little bit.
The Minister while exhorting the farmers to bring only dry produce in the mandis assured them that they would face absolutely no difficulty in the mandis as the State Government is the safe keeper of their interests.
Notably, the State of Punjab has been given the target of Procuring 180 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of Paddy for the Central pool with the Minimum Support Price (MSP) fixed at Rs. 2461 Per Quintal.
The department has also ensured the arrangement of Bardana to the extent of 5.09 Lakh. Also, the Cash Credit Limit (CCL) of Rs. 42,786.68 Crore has been received for the Month of October, revealed Mr. Kataruchak.
Among others present on the occasion included the Principal Secretary Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department Rahul Tiwari, Special Secretary Kamal Kumar Garg, Additional Directors Dr. Anjuman Bhaskar and Ajayveer Singh Sarao, Deputy Director Food Procurement Geeta Bishambhu, & General Manager (Finance) Sarvesh Kumar.
