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Gap in arrival, purchase and lifting weighs heavy in south Malwa
BATHINDA Kulwant Singh of Kishangarh village in Mansa district has been camping at the grain market in Bareta for the last eight days to sell his wheat
BATHINDA Kulwant Singh of Kishangarh village in Mansa district has been camping at the grain market in Bareta for the last eight days to sell his wheat. He has 12-acres of land and harvested only a part of the total area.
“Officials and arhtiyas say there are no gunny bags. In absence of packaging material, procurement has slowed down work and farmers are hassled,” said Singh.
As per official records, only 4,895 metric tonnes (MT) wheat was purchased by different agencies in Bareta mandi on Monday and only 400 MT food grain was lifted.
President of arhtiyas’ association at Bareta Jitender Mohan Garg blames the state authorities for poor preparedness for the procurement. “Contrary to the claims of the Punjab government, the purchase is disappointingly slow as there has hardly been any availability of gunny bags. There is no space left in the mandi,” he added.
In the south Malwa region, Bathinda and Mansa districts have more problems related to procurement. In the last three days, farmer protests have been reported at various places of the two districts against the slow purchase.
Of 3.68 lakh MT wheat arrived in Bathinda so far, nearly 74,000 MT is still lying unsold at various centers across the district. Wheat grower Sikander Singh had to travel 20 km to Bathinda last Friday as procurement at the purchase centre at his native Shergarh village was delayed.
“I am waiting here for the last four days and it may take at least three more days for my turn due to the heavy rush. Authorities should expedite lifting and ensure smooth supply of gunny bags,” he said.
Officials admit the tardy lifting of the wheat is now threatening to create a glut-like situation in the coming days as heavy more crop has been harvested that will flood the grain markets.
An arhtiya at Talwandi Sabo Sukhpal Singh said a delay in the supply of bags could lead to a situation where farmers will struggle to find a place for their crop inside the grain markets. To date, about 38,000 MT has arrived at Talwandi and 10,000 MT grains stand unsold.
“There is no coordination or support from the authorities. As the stock is lying unsold, farmers are unable to bring the harvested crop to mandis,” said.
Bathinda district mandi officer Preet Kanwar Singh Brar said the situation is likely to improve by Tuesday afternoon after additional supply has been assured by the state authorities.
“It is more of fear in the mandis whereas the real situation is not very alarming. Wheat purchase is a massive exercise and Bathinda, the largest district of southern Punjab, is expected to procure 10.31 lakh metric tonnes wheat and these issues will be resolved soon,” said the official.
Officials in Fazilka said there have been more complaints of delay in uploading farmers’ details on the web portal for direct payments. “There is a lack of technical support for the teething problems in the new payment system. But the state administration is working to fix the challenges,” said a district functionary.
