Reiterating Captain Amarinder Singh Government's committment to procure each and every grain from farmers in seamless manner, Food & Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Monday asserted that all preparations for paddy procurement season beginning October 1 were duly in place.In a statement issued here, Ashu said that all arrangements had been made for seamless procurement of paddy to ensure farmers do not face any hardship. To ensure smooth procurement, 1734 Purchase Centers have been allotted amongst the procuring agencies, he added.Referring to recently released Paddy Policy, Ashu said that several technological interventions had been introduce to bring about transparency and arrest malpractises. Linkages of mandis with mills this season had been done using GPS maping to avoid extra transportation cost, Ashu added.Ashu also disclosed that the requisite Cash Credit Limit (CCL) would be arranged well in time in the coming week before the commencement of paddy arrival.
He said as per Agriculture Department report, area under cultivation was 29.20 Lakh hectares and state was expecting procurement of 165 Lakh Metric Tonnes besides arrangement of tarpaulins, gunny bags, stock and storage space finalized. Arrangements for procurement of 170 LMT paddy had been finalized, he said. Strict instructions had also been issued to ensure timely payment to farmers, the Minister added.A new portal has also been launched for online miller registeration and allotment, Ashu said adding that applications and payments for release order of paddy would be taken online from this season.With a view to prevent recycling of PDS rice, penal inovisions under Essential Commodity Act have also been introduced in the policy. Grievance redressal Committee have been set up in each mandis and uninterupted power supply shall be ensured, he added.The Minister also appealed to farmers to bring dry and within specifications paddy to mandis to comolement state's efforts in ensuing hassle free experience for farmers.