Wheat arrivals pick up, Punjab yet to get provisional cost sheet

The Punjab food and civil supplies department is yet to receive a provisional cost sheet from the Union ministry of food and public distribution even as wheat arrivals have started picking up in mandis of the state following five days of clear weather and constantly rising temperatures

Chandigarh: The Punjab food and civil supplies department is yet to receive a provisional cost sheet from the Union ministry of food and public distribution even as wheat arrivals have started picking up in mandis of the state following five days of clear weather and constantly rising temperatures.

The Punjab food and civil supplies department is yet to receive a provisional cost sheet from the Union ministry of food and public distribution even as wheat arrivals have started picking up in mandis of the state following five days of clear weather and constantly rising temperatures

The provisional cost sheet mentions the accruals state government receives on the purchase of foodgrain (wheat and paddy), including rural development fund, mandi fee, dami (commission fee) for arhtiyas, interest on the cash credit limit (CCL) for procurement and transport and labour charges.

On Sunday 12,000 tonnes of wheat arrived in the mandis across Punjab taking the total arrivals to 21,000 tonnes. Last year, 3.08 lakh tonnes of wheat had arrived in grain markets till April 9.

Apart from sporadic purchases in some mandis by the private players, the state agencies have not started buying wheat as a report from eight central teams that are touring state on relaxation in quality of grain for procurement is still awaited.

The Punjab government had sought relaxation from the centre as the grain quality suffered due to rains, high-velocity winds and hailstorm when the crop was ready to harvest. The central teams are expected to give the report within a week, said officials familiar with the development. The untimely rains in March-end and early April have delayed the procurement schedule.

According to the past practice, the cost sheet is sent to the state government before start of the procurement season in April for the rabi crops and on October 1 for the kharif season. The rural development fund to the tune of ₹2,880 crore of the previous two seasons (paddy and wheat) is pending, despite repeated reminders from the state government.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann is in the process of shooting off another reminder to the Centre for the release of the pending accruals, said officials. “Timely clarity on the accruals helps rightful management of the CCL taken from the Reserve Bank of India as the procurement is a large operation and uncertainty leads losses,” said an official of the state food department.

Department officials said the Centre is insisting for accepting total accruals that go into the state government’s account (RDF and mandi fee) at 2%, whereas state government is insisting two funds to be 3% each. The state and Centre are yet to reach a consensus on the matter.

Director agriculture Gurvinder Singh said the harvest has started across the state and arrivals would pick up in the upcoming week.