Accept demands of millers, Punjab CM Mann urges Centre
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann today asked the Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister to accept demands of the millers.
In a letter to the Union minister, the CM said generally the FCI received milled rice by March 31, but during the kharif marketing season (KMS) 2023-24, it could not provide space for the milled rice, so the delivery period had to be extended up to September 30, 2024.
The Chief Minister said that under these circumstances, millers of Punjab were reluctant to lift and store paddy that would come to mandis during KMS 2024-25. He said the millers had been emphasising that it was necessary that at least 20 lakh metric tonne (LMT) rice/wheat was shifted out of Punjab from the covered storage every month.
The CM said as food godowns all over the country were full, so the Government of India would have to come out with some strategic solutions. He also announced to enhance the charges payable to labourers involved in loading and unloading of grains in mandis by Rs 1 per quintal. The exercise would cost Rs 18 crore to the state exchequer, an official press note said.
