Paddy procurement: Minister assures hassle-free lifting, payment to farmers

Nakodar, October 13

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak on Thursday said that the Punjab government was committed to ensuring seamless procurement of paddy and timely payment to the farmers in the ongoing Kharif marketing season.

Taking stock of the procurement process in the Nakodar grain market, the minister said that till October 12, as much as 15.51 lakh MT paddy has arrived in the grain markets of Punjab of which procurement agencies have so far purchased 14.62 lakh MT and cleared payments worth Rs 2,129 crore to the farmers for their produce.

He said that elaborate arrangements were made at 1,854 purchase centres well in advance and 182 lakh MT of paddy was expected to be procured this year.

The minister said that officials must remain present in the grain markets to ensure farmers do not face any issue in selling their produce and receiving payments.

Officials must make persistent efforts to provide maximum benefits to the farmers coming to the markets, said the minister and asserted that the government would procure every grain of crop without causing any inconvenience to the farmers. He also appealed to the farmers to bring dried crop to the grain markets.