Ludhiana: 6.4L quintal of procured paddy lifted from Khanna mandi, says Sond
State cabinet minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said as of October 26, around 9.4 lakh quintals of paddy arrived at the Khanna grain market in Ludhiana, of which 9.4 lakh quintals was procured by the agencies
A day after former chief minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Captain Amarinder Singh visited the grain market in Khanna and chided the state government over ‘tardy’ paddy procurement, state cabinet minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond, said on Saturday that 6.4 lakh quintal of the procured paddy had already been lifted from the Asia’a largest mandi.
Earlier in the day, cabinet minister Hardeep Singh Mundian and deputy commissioner Jitendra Jorwal took stock of procurement operations at the Kohara grain market.
Sond said the processes of procurement, lifting and payments are running smoothly. He said that as of October 26, around 9.4 lakh quintals of paddy arrived at the Khanna grain market, of which 9.4 lakh quintals was procured by the agencies. He added that more than 6.4 lakh quintals of paddy had been lifted and payments worth ₹94 crore were disbursed to the farmers.
Sond hit out at the Union government for ‘attempting to disrupt’ the long-standing and reliable relationship between farmers, arhtiyas and millers.
He accused the BJP-led central government of engaging in ‘cheap politics’ regarding the procurement crisis. He said the Centre has shown a ‘neglectful attitude’ towards Punjab and is playing ‘dirty politics to create difficulties for farmers’.
The minister said 18 lakh MT paddy is expected to arrive ar the grain markets in Ludhiana, and added the state government is committed to procuring every grain of the produce as it is the fruit of six months of hard work of the farmers.
“The Punjab government has made all out arrangements for the smooth and uninterrupted procurement of the crop in all the mandis across the state”, he added.
Mundian said there is sufficient availability of gunny bags and proper arrangements for lifting and payment are in place at all the purchase centres . He said the farmers are getting the payment of their produce within the stipulated time frame.
Mundian appealed to the farmers not to set crop residue afire in the fields and bring only dry produce to the mandis for easy and hassle-free procurement.
He interacted with the representatives of arhtiya association and officials of various procurement agencies.
DC Jorwal said the district administration will leave no stone unturned to facilitate farmers during procurement operations.
The DC added that 4.7 MT paddy has arrived at mandis in district and 4.34 lakh MT has been procured.
He said around 25,875 MT paddy was lifted in the last 24 hours and payments worth ₹969.5 crore have been made to the farmers so far.
Jorwal added that all the officials have been asked to ensure timely procurement, lifting and payment of crops and any kind of laxity in this task would be dealt with an iron hand.