Chandigarh, Sep 20 (PTI) Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said paddy procurement will begin from October 1 and 191 lakh metric tonnes of the crop is expected to arrive in various mandis in the state.
The chief minister reviewed the procurement arrangements here and asserted that the state government is committed to procure every single grain of the crop.
“(We are) going to start government procurement of paddy from October 1..(I) held a meeting with the officers of the mandi board…reviewed procurement arrangements… This time around 191 lakh metric tons of paddy is likely to arrive the government is committed to procure every single grain of the crop,” Mann said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, according to a statement, the chief minister issued instructions that purchase, lifting and payment should commence from the first day of procurement itself and warned of strict action if any farmer faces inconvenience.
He directed the state procurement agencies and the Food Corporation of India to be fully geared up for procurement of paddy in the ensuing season.
He expressed satisfaction that the state had already arranged sufficient ‘bardana’ (jute bags) for the season well in advance and directed its optimal placement across the state in all mandis.
The mandi board has already notified 1,804 purchase centres across the state.
Further, in order to avoid glut like situation in mandis, temporary purchase centres are being identified for procurement of paddy.
The department apprised the chief minister that the land records in the state have been integrated with the ‘Anaaj Kharid’ portal.
In line with the Punjab Custom Milling Policy 2022-23, verifications of rice mills are being carried out to ensure strict compliance of the policy guidelines.
Consequently, a total of 3,854 mills have been verified online till date.
All the procedures regarding registration, physical verification, delivery of rice to FCI and payments etc have been switched to online mode and most of the procedures have been made faceless.
For the first time the linking of rice mills with the mandis is being done through an automated software based on least distance principle, which will result in substantial savings for the state government, said the statement.
The chief minister has asked for strict monitoring of power consumption in each rice mill pursuant to the integration of ‘Anaaj-Kharid’ portal with the state-owned power utility portal.
He further said that the delivery of rice should be in accordance with the recorded electricity consumption so as to curb bogus purchases and recycling of PDS rice.
He also asked the state police chief to set up checkpoints across the state to ensure strict action against any truck carrying paddy in the state without getting registered on the mandi board portal. PTI CHS HVA
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