The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak today visited Gurdaspur Dana Mandi to take stock of the Wheat procurement operations. He was accompanied by the Halqa Incharge Gurdaspur Raman Behl, Halqa Incharge Dinanagar Shamsher Singh, SDM Gurdaspur Anupreet Kaur, Chairman Market Committee Gurdaspur Bharat Bhushan Sharma and Deputy Director Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Rajnish Kaur.
During interaction with the mediapersons, the Minister divulged that the State Government led by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann is duty bound to procure every single bale of Grain of the farmers. Till date, a total of 61 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of Wheat has arrived in the mandis of the State out of which 57 LMT stands procured with payments worth Rs. 7109 Crore made into the accounts of the farmers.
Yesterday, 12 LMT of wheat arrived in the mandis which is a proof of the fast pace of the arrival of crops, said the Minister. He also mentioned that adequate facilities have been ensured in the mandis for the benefit of the farmers and he is personally inspecting the procurement process everyday by visiting the mandis.
The Minister further disclosed that the State has got a target to procure 122 LMT of wheat this season. While interacting with the farmers and arhtiyas, a farmer named Harjinder Singh from Bahia village said that he brought his produce today Morning and same has been procured today itself.
The Minister also took stock of the availability of bardana, lifting, cleanliness, Sanitation and clean drinking water arrangements. He also directed the officers to ensure the farmers encounter no difficulty in the mandis In Gurdaspur, 1,69,195 LMT of Wheat has been procured till now and payments to the tune of Rs. 267.60 Crores have credited into the accounts of the farmers.
Among others also present on the occasion included the Zila Parishad Member Advocate Sucha Singh Multani, DFSC Gurdaspur Amanjot Singh, District Mandi Officer Jaswinder Singh, President Beopar Mandal Ashwani Mahajan.