Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal has directed all the concerned officers and heads of all procurement agencies to complete all arrangements for smooth and hassle free procurement of wheat in coming Rabi season starting from April 1.
The Chief Minister while presiding over a meeting to review the progress of procurement and warehousing facilities of wheat during Rabi season here, also directed the authorities concerned to ensure that the agencies having storage capacity nearest to mandis should be given priority for lifting of foodgrain in that particular mandi (grain market). It was informed in the meeting that state government had estimated about 113.9 lakh metric tonnes (MT) wheat production for Rabi season 2015-16.
Wheat production during last year was 118 lakh MT and procurement was 65 lakh MT. It was also informed that recent unseasonal rains can harm the wheat production during year 2015-16 and expected procurement will remain around 65 lakh MT.
Manohar lal further directed to ensure timely payment to farmers on delivery of foodgrain. Apart from this, a toll free number should be started and function properly so that farmers could inform about any kind of difficulty during procurement operations in mandis to the government. In addition, sign boards having toll free number on each gate of mandis should also be placed, he added.
The Chief Minister asked the officers to explore possibilities for setting up silos for bulk handling and storage of foodgrain in the state. A proposal should be prepared for the same. He also reviewed the availability of storage space, gunny bags, storage plan and transport system.