No purchase in Palwal mandis for five days

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Palwal, April 25

Not a grain of wheat has been purchased nor lifted from local grain markets — 11 in all — in the past five days, even as Food and Supply Minister Karan Dev Kamboj on Monday assured farmers of smooth procurement.

The authorities say they want to inspect the procured produce so as to know how much wheat from Uttar Pradesh has been purchased.

It has come to light that arhtiyas have bought wheat from UP at rates below the MSP and sold it to Haryana procurement agencies at the MSP. In the process, Haryana farmers have become the victims as a majority of their produce is still unsold.

“On Tuesday, I had to sell half of my produce to a private party at a discount — on every acre I lost Rs 180 (the MSP is Rs 1,735 per quintal),” said Joginder of the district’s Mandkola village.

He is still left with more than 50 quintals and cannot afford to incur more loss.

Sudharshan Chauhan of Chajjunagar blamed the state government and procurement agencies for the problem.

Lekh Ram of Maanpur alleged mismanagement in procurement had made farmers a victim and exposed all claims regarding smooth procurement.

Mohan Lal, District Food and Supply Controller (DFSC), said: “The verification of procured wheat is likely to be completed in a couple of days. Procurement is likely to resume soon.”

As of now, 3.73 lakh metric tonnes (MT) have been procured. Sources claim about 25,000 MT is still left to be procured.