Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the Food and Civil Supplies Minister Mr. Adaish Partap Singh Kairon to coordinate with the Government of India (GoI) for getting the paddy procurement norms relaxed to facilitate the farmers of the state.Meanwhile, Mr. Kairon today called up Union Minister of state for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs (Independent Charge) Mr KV Thomas for immediately announcing relaxations in the existing procurement norms of paddy, which has been considerably discolored due to recent rains and hail storms across the state.Presiding over a high level meeting with the heads of the procurement agencies, officers of Mandi Board and Agriculture department of the state here at Punjab Bhawan, Mr. Kairon apprised the Union Minister about the hardships faced by the farmers for the procurement of the grains due to the inclement weather. Subsequently, Mr. Thomas assured the Minister that he would soon dispatch technical teams of the officers from his ministry to take stock of the entire situation and assess the extent of damage caused to the paddy in terms of discoloration and moisture.
He further promised Mr. Kairon that the special teams would take sympathetic view of the piquant situation to bail out the state’s peasantry by relaxing the prescribed norms of paddy procurement, immediately after the submission of report.Later on Mr. Kairon had threadbare deliberations with the Managing Directors of all the procurement agencies to ensure smooth, hassle free and prompt procurement of paddy in wake of the damage caused to it due to recent unseasonal rains and hail storm across the state especially in Ludhiana, Rupnagar and Fatehgarh Sahib District. During the meeting Mr. Kairon also asked the officers of Mandi Board and Agriculture department to segregate the discolored grains so that the procurement operations were being carried out simultaneously. Prominent amongst others who attended the meeting included Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. SK Sandhu, Secretary Food and Civil Supplies Mr. DS Grewal and Commissioner Food and Civil Supplies Mr. Satwant Singh Johal.