Punjab Government Reports 90% Paddy Procurement, Addresses Stakeholder Concerns

The Punjab Government led by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has always kept the interests of all the stakeholders connected with the procurement process at its heart. This is evident from the fact that out of 18,31,588 Metric Tonnes of paddy arriving in mandis of State till yesterday evening during ongoing procurement season, 16,37,517 Metric Tonnes has been procured which is 90 percent.

As regards the payment, nearly Rs. 3000 Crore have been credited into the accounts of the farmers, said the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister, Punjab, Mr. Lal Chand Kataruchak while interacting with the mediapersons here today.

Divulging more, the Minister said that in order to ensure smooth and hassle free procurement season, the State Government has operationalized 2651 procurement centres. Besides, till date 2184 rice millers have applied for the allotment of rice mills.

Coming to the storage space issue, the Minister disclosed that as per the Food Corporation of India (FCI) 9.5 LMT of space is available at present. As milling starts in the month of December, hence by December 2024 nearly 30 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of space would be created, said the Minister adding that this year movement of 4 LMT more foodgrain has been registered as compared to the previous year. This year from April to September 85.53 LMT movement was recorded while the during the April to September period in 2023, the same figure stood at 81.73 LMT.

Concerning the demands of the rice millers, the Minister informed that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has emphatically taken up the various demands of rice millers during meeting with the Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Listing the steps initiated by the State Government aimed at the welfare of the rice millers, Mr. Kataruchak added that the Custom Milling Rice (CMR) securities stuck since many years are being returned to the millers except one year. This has led to the relief of Rs. 150 crore to the rice millers.

Also, in place of earlier CMR security of Rs. 175 Per Tonne, now only Rs. 10 Per Tonne security would be charged leading to the benefit of Rs. 300 crore for the millers. Besides, in this year's policy, the security rate has been fixed in accordance with the tonne capacity whereas during the previous years, this security was levied at uniform rate of Rs. 11 Lakh from every mill. But now, the mill having 2 MT capacity would be charged Rs. 5 Lakh, Mills with 2 to 5 MT capacity would have to pay Rs. 7.5 Lakh while those mills which have capacity of more than 5 MT, would be levied Rs. 11 Lakh.

Apart from this, keeping the interests of Labourers/Palledars working in the Grain Markets in mind, the Punjab Government has revised the rate of loading of sack from Rs. 1.94 to Rs. 2.34.

The Minister exhorted all the stakeholders to work in unison to ensure a successful procurement season as the Government is leaving no stone unturned for their welfare.