Food, civil supplies and consumer affairs minister Lal Chand Kataruchak on Friday said the state government would ensure that every single grain of paddy is procured and no farmer faces any hassles in any mandi during the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2022-23 beginning Saturday (October 1). He said farmers are the backbone of predominantly agrarian economy of the State. Paddy procurement process will be commenced by the minister himself from the Rajpura Mandi on Saturday.
The minister added that during the season, which would continue till November 30, all the agencies would make procurement of paddy grade A at the MSP of ₹2060 per quintal while common variety would be procured at the MSP of ₹2040 per quintal. The state government has made robust arrangements for the smooth procurement of 191 lakh metric tonne (LMT) paddy, although Government of India has fixed the procurement target at 184.45 LMT for the state, he added.
Principal secretary food supplies, Rahul Bhandari informed that the Punjab Mandi Board has notified 1804 regular mandis during the season, which have been allotted among government procurement agencies and further 364 temporary purchase centers have also been notified to avoid glut in mandies. He also added that the bardana in requisite quantity has been arranged.
Likewise, grievance redressal committees have also been formed mandi wise with control rooms for facilitating the farmers. This would ensure on the spot redressal of any issue. The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department has also set up a control room at the headquarter level to make sure that no farmer encounters any hurdle in selling his produce.
He also said that the Reserve Bank of India has already approved the Cash Credit Limit worth Rs. 36,999 crore to the Punjab Government, while labour and transportation arrangements have been put in place with directions to all concerned to ensure lifting strictly in accordance with the policy.
