Punjab Horticulture and Defence Services Welfare Minister Mohinder Bhagat on Saturday kick-started procurement of wheat at new Grain Market Jalandhar wherein he directed the officials to ensure smooth conduct of entire procurement operations with an aim to facilitate farmers bringing their produce in Mandis.
Accompained by Senior AAP Leaders Nitin Kohli, Dinesh Dhall, Rajwinder Kaur Thiara, the Minister said that this year as many as 5.27 lakh metric tonne wheat was expected to arrive across all 79 purchase centres in the districts and elaborate arrangements have already been put in place to procure every single grain.
He reiterated the Government commitment of ensuring a smooth and hassle-free procurement operation in Jalandhar with prime focus on facilitating farmers bringing their produce in grain markets. He further mentioned that the district has witness arrival of over 2844 MT wheat in the Mandis of which a total of 24721 MTs have been procured by the procurement agencies.
The payment worth Rs. 28 crore have already been made to farmers against their procured wheat crop, he said adding the Government was ensuring payment to farmers within 24 hours of procurement. He further added that arrangements like availability of potable water, cleanliness, shades, tarpaulins, bardana besides others were already made by the officials.
Stressing on lifting and payment to farmers, he directed the officials that no stone be left unturned to make timely payments to farmers as per Government’s guidelines. "There was no dearth of Bardana in Mandis which would lead towards a hassle-free season for farmers", he added.
The Minister said that the entire procurement operation would be accomplished smoothly as any kind of negligence would be dealt with strictly. Meanwhile, the Minister and the DC also interacted with some of the farmers present on the occasion and took their valuable feedback about arrangements made by the officials at grain markets.
Pointing out further, District Food and Civil Supplies Controller Narinder Singh said that all labour and transport contracts are already in place and the lifting would be carried out within stipulated time frame. He also added that the farmers will also get payment of their sold produce promptly.
Meanwhile, Farmers Balkar Singh and Charanjit Singh lauded Punjab Government for prompt payment and procurement of wheat in Mandis. They mentioned that there produce was procured immediately after arriving the mandi and payment was credited into their bank accounts within 24 hours.