Wheat procurement yet to be streamlined in mandis across the state

Stir over, lifting poor

Sangrur: A day after Punjab Pradesh Palledar Mazdoor Union called off its 15-day strike, the lifting of wheat procured by government agencies began today. About 3 lakh tonnes of procured wheat has been lying in grain markets and procurement centres. Sources said the pace of lifting wheat bags remained slow owing to shortage of labourers. The work of loading wheat onto trucks has been given to arhtiyas this year. Bhim Sain, president, Arhtiya Association, Sangrur, said the commission agents today took 60 trucks from the local truck union to transport wheat to godowns. He said as five lakh wheat bags were lying in the grain market here, lifting would be completed in at least 15 days.

Rs 190 crore released

Abohar: The government today said Rs 190 crore has been released for distribution to the farmers who suffered loss due to incessant rain in September last year. Jakhar had sent a 10-day notice to the state on April 18 saying that Rs 270 crore was available in the State Disaster Relief Fund, but the same was not being distributed to the affected farmers. He had warned to lead a protest outside CM’s residence on April 28. He had also slammed the SAD and BJP leaders for making false claims on providing relief to rain-hit farmers and residents. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had visited affected areas in Fazilka and Muktsar districts on Sept 14-16 last year and had announced to disburse compensation within a month.

'Waive farmers' debt'

Amritsar: Addressing a gathering during a protest on Monday, farmer leaders sought fulfillment of three demands for permanent solution to the agrarian crisis. These include writing off the debt of farmers who are not in a position to repay, fixation of crop prices as per the Swaminathan Commission recommendations and implementation of the Land Ceiling Act in letter and spirit to distribute surplus land among landless farmers. The leaders also demanded adequate and immediate compensation for damaged wheat crop. They said the farmers should be given Rs 500 per quintal bonus this season due to low yield. They claimed due to unseasonal rain, most farmers took a hit of 15 to 20 per cent of crop yield.