Punjab Govt committed to procuring every grain of paddy: Food Minister

Bathinda, October 28

The Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Lal Chand Kataruchak, visited the grain market in Bathinda today and said the Punjab Government was committed to purchase each and every grain of paddy.

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The minister said the state government had made arrangements to buy the crop. “The procurement of paddy in the state is going smooth and farmers are not facing any problem in the mandis,” Kataruchak said.

Replying to a media query, Kataruchak said to date, 91 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had arrived in the grain markets of the state. Of this, about 89 lakh metric tonness has been purchased by various procurement agencies.

The minister said payment of around Rs 15,000 crore had been deposited in the accounts of the farmers of the state. Kataruchak also interacted with farmers who had brought their crops to Dana Mandi.

He said the state government was also ensuring that necessary arrangements were made for farmers as well as all persons involved in the procurement process, including sheller owners, artisans, laborers, transporters, etc.

He appealed to farmers to harvest only ripe paddy crop so that the moisture percentage in the produce was not high and procurement agencies could buy it without any delay.