Punjab cabinet asks CM Amarinder to raise issue of DBT to farmers with Modi for relief

Says adopting new system will not be politically wise for the ruling Congress amid farmer protests and the fact that assembly polls are scheduled in less than a year’s time

With the central government firm on direct benefit transfer (DBT) of minimum support price (MSP) to Punjab farmers for the wheat procurement season that starts on April 10, the state cabinet on Wednesday asked chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking relief.

The central government has been firm on direct benefit transfer of minimum support price (MSP) to Punjab farmers for the wheat procurement season that starts on April 10. (File Photo)

The cabinet said the existing system should be continued as adopting the new structure will not be politically wise for the ruling Congress amid the ongoing farmer protests and also the fact that the assembly polls are scheduled in less than a year’s time.

Punjab is expecting to procure 130 lakh tonne wheat and has sought a cash credit limit (CCL) of ₹27,000 crore from the Reserve bank of India (RBI).

State food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who flagged the issue during the cabinet meeting, said the Centre’s proposal is in violation of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act that governs the functioning of the state procurement machinery. The CM reportedly assured his council of ministers of taking up the matter at appropriate level.

The Centre wants Punjab to make payment to farmers for the wheat crop by bypassing commission agents or arhtiyas, who are part of the existing system, he added.

Union food minister Piyush Goyal has rejected Punjab’s plea to allow the existing system to stay and suggested the state amend its APMC Act. “This is not possible as it will directly affect the country’s federal structure,” Ashu told the cabinet.

In a communiqué to Punjab CM, Goyal on March 27 asked the Punjab government to implement public finance management system (PFMS) and make payment for the crop procured directly into the accounts of farmers.

Punjab is the only state among the 12 procuring ones that is not making direct digital payment to farmers as mandated by the Union finance ministry’s PFMS order of May 2018. It continues to pay farmers through arhtiyas under the Punjab Agriculture Produce Marketing Rules, 1962. The state is seeking extension from implementing it for the past three procurements.

Goyal in his letter to Amarinder has sought compliance and suggested that Punjab follow Haryana’s software that enables details of tenants or sharecroppers to be uploaded on the portal with a disclaimer that this would not be a legal proof for claiming ownership. Punjab has not integrated its land records with the central procurement portal, he wrote.