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Move Centre’s share of paddy stocked in state: Mann to Shah
Says 130 lakh MT of rice meant for the Central pool from last year is still lying in Punjab godowns, leading storage space shortage
Chandigarh
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said he had a telephonic conversation with Union home minister Amit Shah and urged him to address the issues of the state rice millers by moving the paddy belonging to the Centre stocked in the state.
Paddy lifting from mandis in Punjab is hit since the state rice millers have refused to mill the crop till their demands are met.
“Today, I spoke to Union home minister Amit Shah and urged him that the issues of rice millers and arhtiyas (commission agents) be addressed at the earliest,” Mann said.
Mann said he apprised the Union minister about the hiccups in smooth procurement operations, saying that issues like transportation cost, shortage of storage, issue of hybrid variety and loss to sheller owners is jeopardising the procurement process. He urged the Union government to pay heed towards resolution of these issues in larger interest of the country.
The CM said the demands of the rice millers and arhtiyas are related to the central government.
Mann said Punjab contributes the maximum into the central pool of the crop, adding the state will contribute 180 lakh metric tonnes of paddy this year.
He also stressed on moving 130 lakh MT rice from last year — belonging to the Centre and stocked in Punjab — to other states to create more space.
“We are with farmers, rice shellers and arhtiyas,” he said.
“I expect that the home minister will address their issues,” he said.
Mann, however, said paddy procurement was going on and farmers were being paid for their produce.
There is some problem in lifting in some districts and it will be resolved in a day or two, he said.
Punjab rice millers have expressed concern over the out-turn ratio (post-milling yield) of the PR-126 paddy variety, claiming that it will lead to huge losses.
They have said that the out-turn ratio of this variety is less than 67%, a ratio which has been fixed by the Centre.
They are demanding that they be allowed to give 64 kg of rice out of one quintal of paddy because of less yield in the PR-126 variety.
The state rice millers have also complained of space crunch to store the fresh paddy and want the Centre to liquidate the existing wheat and paddy stock to create sufficient space.
The commission agents are pressing for a raise in their commission.
A target of procurement of 185 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from Punjab has been fixed for the 2024-25 kharif marketing season.
