66.8 MT wheat has already arrived in Punjab’s grain markets; payment of Rs 9,170 crore already made to 4 lakh farmers
Govt committed for immediate purchase & payment within 48 hours to farmers: Anurag Verma
No Farmer will face any issue in procurement, I have directed all DCs to work 24x7 : Anurag Verma
Punjab Newsline, Khanna/Chanidgarh, April 26-
Chief Secretary, Punjab Anurag Verma today visited Khanna Mandi and reviewed the ongoing procurement of wheat. He directed all the Procurement Agencies to ensure that farmers do not face any problem in the Mandis.
Mr. Verma further said that during the current season, 132 Lakh Metric Tonnes of wheat is expected to arrive in the Mandis of the State. Out of this, till yesterday evening 66.8 Lakh Metric Tonnes of wheat had arrived in the Mandis i.e. about half the expected crop has arrived in the Mandis. Out of this, 91 percent of the crop i.e. 60.9 Lakh Metric Tonnes has already been purchased. Mr. Verma said that all efforts are being made that crop is cleaned, purchased and weighed within 24 hours of its arrival in the Mandi. Once this is done the farmer is free to leave the Mandi. Payment will be credited into his account within 48 hours of purchase and he will get an SMS in this regard.
Mr. Verma further said that as per the norms of payment within 48 hours of purchase, payment of Rs. 7950 Crores was due to be made to the farmers. Against this, a payment of Rs. 9170 Crores has been already been made to the farmers. This means that in many cases farmers have been paid even before 48 hours. Payment has been made to more than 4 Lakh farmers so far.
Chief Secretary also interacted with the farmers.Sukhdeep Singh S/o Sh. Harpal Singh from Bhamaddi village said that he had brought his crop to the Mandi at 7 A.M. today. His crop was purchased at 12:30 P.M. Similarly, Narinder Singh S/o Sh. Gurnam Singh from Hussainpur village said that he had brought his crop to the Mandi at 7:30 A.M. today. His crop was purchased at 12:40 P.M. Most of the farmers present in the Mandi had brought their crop to the Mandi today only.
Mr. Verma further said that due to delay in harvesting, the arrivals in the Mandis were initially slow and have peaked suddenly, but the entire State Machinery is working day and night to ensure that the farmers do not face any problem in the Mandis. Last year, peak lifting in a single day was 4.8 Lakh Metric Tonnes. Yesterday, lifting crossed this limit and was 5.5 Lakh Metric Tonnes. Mr. Verma said that he is reviewing the progress with Deputy Commissioners via Video Conference every alternate day.
Mr. Verma said that he has directed all the Deputy Commissioners to visit the Mandis daily and ensure that this lifting is increased to 6.5 Lakh Metric Tonnes per day.
So far Khanna Mandi is concerned, till yesterday evening 54 Thousand Metric Tonnes wheat had arrived in the Mandi and 100 percent of this had been purchased. Payment of Rs. 52 Crores was due to be made to the farmers within 48 hours of purchase. Against this, a payment of Rs. 72 Crores has been already been made to the farmers.
Mr. Verma said that the Government is committed to ensure that the crop of the farmers will be purchased immediately in the Mandis and they will be paid within 48 hours. If any farmer faces any problem regarding purchase or payment, he may report on the Government's toll free number 1100. Immediate action will be taken on the information given by the farmer.
Chief Secretary was also accompanied by Director Food & Civil Supplies Puneet Goyal, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, SSP Amneet Kondal and others.