Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, April 20: The process of government procurement of wheat in the mandis of the district is going on smoothly and 52529 metric tons of wheat have been purchased.
Disclosing this information, Deputy Commissioner Komal Mittal said that Rs. 114.52 crore of wheat payment to the farmers has been deposited in their accounts so far. He said that as per the instructions of the Punjab Government, wheat payment is being made to the accounts of the farmers even before the stipulated time limit (48 hours).
He said that the district administration is committed to purchasing wheat grains from farmers as per the guidelines of the Punjab government. He said that in order to protect the wheat from getting soaked due to bad weather, proper arrangements have been made by the Market Committees, Food and Civil Supplies Department, Arthiyas and farmers in all the procurement centers with tarpaulins etc. So far, no damage has been caused due to rain in the district mandis.
Giving details of the agency-wise procurement done in the district mandis so far, he said that 17663 metric tons of wheat has been purchased by Pangrain, 12029 metric tons by Markfed, 12180 metric tons by PUNSUP, 6464 metric tons by Punjab State Warehouse Corporation and 4193 metric tons by FCI and 58 metric tons by the traders.
District Food and Supply Controller Dr. Navreet said that the lifting of wheat is being done by the government procurement agencies within the stipulated time (within 72 hours of procurement). FCI and procurement agencies are directly purchasing wheat from the mandis and sending it to other states through railway and road routes. About 67.1 percent of the wheat has been lifted from the mandis and the remaining lifting will also be done in the coming days. He said that all the procurement agencies are working hard to lift all the wheat from the mandis soon and to vacate the mandis.
He said that as per the instructions of the government and the Deputy Commissioner, the farmers will be provided with the same effective services till the end of the wheat procurement season and farmers will not be allowed to face any problem in any mandi of the district.