Punjab Food, Civil Supply and Consumer Affairs Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, a day after taking oath, on Sunday maintained that glitches on the lifting front would be resolved in two-three days’ time.
Ashu, who visited mandis in ludhiana taking stock of procurement system even before taking over the charge of his ministry, said that the wheat procurement process is going on smoothly in the entire state, and there was absolutely no problem in the procurement and payment system.
“Punjab Government is fully committed to procure every grain of the crops of farmers. The payments are being paid to the farmers within 48 hours of the procurement so as to make sure that the farmers don’t have to face harassment on this count. Similarly, the online mode is also being adopted to further facilitate the payments to the farming community,” he said.
Ashu added that he has yet to formally assume charge but, on the directions of the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, he decided to visit the mandis to have a first-hand knowledge of the procurement procedures.
He also divulged that it has been brought to his notice that there are issues with regard to the lifting in the mandis which is due to the inclement weather and partly owing to the special lifting of the paddy.
“I had a word with the higher officials in this regard and serious endeavours would be made to ensure redressal of the lifting problem in two-three days,” he said adding that the mandi-wise distribution of trucks would be streamlined.
He also assured that there is no problem of gunny-bags (bardanaa) in the mandis and the procurement as well as the payment process is going on with ease.
Ashu, interacting with the media-persons, said that he has his priorities clearly chalked out with the first one being to ensure smooth procurement process and afterwards ensuring transparency as well as tackling corruption. He added that during the past one year, the departmental functioning has witnessed a lot of improvement.