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Amid boycott by arhtiyas, labourers, 730-tonne paddy procured on Day 1
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann announces ₹1-per-quintal hike in labour charge; 1,000-tonne paddy arrived in state mandis on the first day.
Amid strike by arhtiyas, labourers and rice mill owners, the Punjab government announced the beginning of the paddy procurement from Tuesday that saw about 1,000-tonne freshly harvested grain reaching the over 1,800 mandis of the state. As much as 730-tonne paddy was procured and the minimum support price (MSP) paid to the growers. No grain was lifted in Ferozepur due to the strike. Chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann announced a hike in the mandi labour charge by ₹1 per quintal but it failed to move the protesting labourers.
The arhtiyas have been demanding resumption of commission system and rice millers want shifting wheat and rice (at least 20 lakh metric tonnes every month) out of Punjab for creation of adequate space for storing fresh crop. A few demands though need Central intervention, the procurement process in the state face uncertainty.
Out of the seven districts of southern Punjab, only Ferozepur saw arrival of paddy (110 tonnes) on the first day, showed the Punjab mandi board data. Another 149 tonnes reached on the eve of the procurement season. The entire stock of 259 tonnes at the Ferozepur city purchase centre remained unsold due to the strike.
Bathinda chief agriculture officer (CAO) Jagsir Singh said farmers in Rampura and Goniana blocks grow short-duration varieties of basmati to sow vegetables. Basmati harvest will begin soon, he said. “In the rest of the district, rice harvesting will start after October 10 and we expect the parmal varieties to hit mandis from mid-October. The crop’s health is satisfactory and we expect good yield,” he added.
Bathinda mandi officer Gurvinder Singh said about 15 lakh tonne paddy is expected this year in Bathinda. Muktsar district mandi officer Ahaypal Brar said the authorities have made ample arrangements to purchase 9 lakh tonnes of paddy.
Amritsar’s Bhagtanwala grain market wore a deserted view due to the strike. No paddy arrived there. In Rayya and Butala markets of the district, around 50-metric-tonne paddy was purchased.
In the wake of the state having a huge foodgrain pile-up with 175 lakh tonnes (wheat and rice) not moving out of the state, the rice millers have refused to store fresh stocks on behalf of the state government. “The government may store on our premises but we will not take any responsibility of the stocks as in the past, owing to delayed milling, rice yield fell below the norms and the loss was imposed on the millers,” said an office-bearer of state rice millers’ association.
According to Tarsem Saini who heads the association, Punjab should find a solution. He has called a meeting of the association’s general body which has about 5,600 members. He announced that unless the matter is resolved, the millers will not shell the paddy. According to Vikas Garg, principal secretary, food and civil supplies, the issues will be resolved soon and it will be smooth procurement like the previous seasons.
Bathinda arthiya association chief Satish Kumar Babbu and others said they have demanded revival of the commission system instead of payment of ₹46 per quintal and fix it to 2.5% commission on the procured crops, which has been stalled since 2018.
Vijay Kalra, head of the arhtiyas’ association, stated in a video, “It’s a do or die situation as we want the state government to resolve the issue at the earliest. We will not support the procurement operation till then.”
“We are paid ₹12.82 for filling, weighing, stitching and loading of a bag of paddy. It is very less as annual increase of 5 to 8 paise is way too little,” said Rakesh Tulli, who heads the mandi labour union.
Paddy this season was sown over 32 lakh hectares. A bumper crop of 230 lakh tonnes is expected and the state food and civil supplies has fixed a target of 185 lakh tonnes for procurement. The state contributes up to 45% of paddy of total country’s need for the PDS.
The Reserve Bank of India has set aside ₹41,000 crore for kharif procurement in Punjab as a loan in form of cash credit limit (CCL) for which the consortium of banks releases the funds. The paddy MSP has been fixed at ₹2,320 by the Centre’s commission for agricultural costs and prices.
Govt’s promise
For rice millers: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann sought intervention of Union food and PDS minister for fast movement of the foodgrains to make space for fresh stocks. Mann has also demanded that losses incurred by the millers due to milling of old paddy stocks leading to lesser yield be compensated.
For mandi labour: The CM announced to enhance the labour charges by ₹1 per quintal for which the state government will bear a burden of ₹18 crore.
For arhtiyas: According to state officials, their government has repeatedly taken up the matter with the Centre for increasing dami (commission) paid top arhtiyas.
