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Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma on Thursday held a review meeting with all the Deputy Commissioners in consonance with the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to conduct paddy procurement in a smooth and hassle-free manner.
The concerned procurement agencies and officials of the Food and Civil Supplies Department were instructed to complete all the arrangements to start procurement from October 1 on this occasion. Chief Secretary Verma said that due to the efforts of the Punjab Government and follow-up in Mumbai, a cash credit limit (CCL) of Rs 41,339.81 crore was released to Punjab for the purchase of paddy till the end of October 2024 during the kharif marketing season 2024-25. He said that as per the commitment of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Maan, the Punjab government is committed to purchasing each grain of the farmers in the mandis and immediate payment to the farmers will be ensured in their bank accounts. He appealed to the farmers to bring paddy up to 17 per cent moisture to the market so that their crops could be purchased immediately while fulfilling the procurement rules. The Chief Secretary said that he talked with FCI CMD Vanita Sharma, who assured that no problem will be allowed for the millers of Punjab during the paddy procurement season. He said that after the Chief Minister assured to raise their issue with the Government of India during the meeting with the Punjab Rice Millers Association yesterday. After that, the Chief Minister raised their issues with the Union Minister of Food and Civil Supplies on the phone call. During the meeting, Director Food and Civil Supplies Puneet Goyal informed that 5 lakh bales are required for the expected purchase of 185 lakh metric tonnes of paddy during the season, out of which the department has so far procured 4.74 lakh bales of paddy. The arrangement of 35 thousand more bales is under process, which will be completed soon. Anurag Verma directed all the Deputy Commissioners to arrange necessary basic facilities for the farmers in the mandis. He said that the Deputy Commissioner himself and the SDMs should regularly visit the mandis personally to ensure monitoring of the arrangements. He said that according to the rules, strict compliance should be ensured with the orders banning the operation of combines for paddy harvesting from 6 pm to 10 am. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Food and Civil Supplies Vikas Garg, MD Punjab Warehouse Corporation Kanwalpreet Brar, Secretary Punjab Mandi Board Ramvir Singh, MD PUNSUP Sonali Giri, Director Food and Civil Supplies Puneet Goyal and MD Markfed Girish Dayalan. (ANI)
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