Formally kick-starting paddy procurement operations in the State from Chamkaur Sahib, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday directed the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department to ensure smooth and hassle-free procurement during the current Kharif Marketing Season began from October 1.
“We are committed to procuring every single grain of the farmers and for the first time in the history of the State, lifting has started from the very first day which itself is a record,” he said, while interacting with the farmers.
The Chief Minister reiterated that the procurement, lifting, and payment will be done on the same day with digitization of the entire process. He also started the new digital payment initiative with a click of the button and transferred the payment of paddy to a farmer.
The Chief Minister said that the distribution of flood compensation has already started and damage of every penny will be paid by the State Government. “The State Government has ample funds in the State Disaster Fund to compensate for the damage caused by floods,” said Mann, asking the Food and Civil Supplies Department, the nodal agency for the procurement operations, to ensure all necessary arrangements for smooth, prompt and seamless procurement and storage of paddy.
Stating that every single grain of the farmers’ produce would be procured and lifted from the market, Mann said that strict adherence to prescribed norms of timely payment to the farmers would be ensured.
By October 2 (Monday), around 68,000 metric ton paddy has arrived in mandis which is 48 per cent more than last year.
Urging the farmers to stop the cultivation of PUSA-44 and other related varieties of paddy, Mann said that cultivation of these varieties should be stopped and the State Government has already decided to ban these varieties from the next season.
“These water guzzling varieties take maximum time to reap and produce stubble in great manner. The problem of lifting will be resolved with the use of ultramodern techniques such as GPS in trucks. As many 654 new rice shellers have started their operation after ease of norms by the State Government,” he said.
“For the first time in Punjab’s history, Cash Credit Limit of Rs 37,000 crore has already been received for the ensuing paddy season before commissioning of the procurement…We had demanded Rs 42,000 crore as CCL from the Union Government for the procurement but so far, received Rs 37,000 crore,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that with the state government’s efforts, the area under Basmati cultivation has increased at the extent of 21 percent. “The Government of India had fixed Minimum Support Price of Rs 2,203 per quintal for the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2023-24. Four State procurement agencies — Pungrain, Markfed, Punsup, Punjab State Warehouse Corporation, along with FCI are procuring paddy on MSP as per specifications laid down by the Centre,” he added.
Total of 1854 purchase centers have been notified by the Punjab Mandi Board and have been allotted amongst the government procurement agencies. “Necessary arrangements of required gunny bags and covers (tarpaulin) for storage of paddy have been completed well before time,” he added.
Mann said that during the Kharif season, a target of 182.10 lakh metric ton has been set by the state government. Out of this, 173 lakh metric ton will be purchased by the state agencies. The State Government has 4.86 lakh bales of jute available with it and the rest will be managed by the millers, he said.
The Chief Minister said that the technique of biometric authentication has been introduced to safeguard the farmers’ interests of farmers bringing the grains to mandis. To bring transparency in the lifting of grains online, gate passes will be issued to the vehicles.