70% of procured wheat not lifted yet

Karnal, April 18

Tardy lifting of wheat in the grain markets across the state has increased the tension of the farmers and arhtiyas, who fear rainfall in a couple of days and finding a space crunch to unload their produce. The data collected by The Tribune revealed that around 30 per cent of procured wheat has been lifted while the remaining 70 per cent is lying in the grain markets of the state.

The data says all grain markets and procurement centres have received an arrival of around 38 lakh MT of wheat, of which the procurement agencies have purchased 36.52 lakh MT. Out of the procured wheat crop, only 10.22 lakh MT was lifted till Monday night.

Karnal district is leading the tally in lifting maximum procured wheat with 2.60 lakh MT of procured wheat lifted out of 6 lakh MT procured, while Kaithal district has lifted 1.6 lakh MT out of 4.5 lakh MT procured wheat. Yamunananagar district has lifted around 80,000 MT out of 1.54 lakh MT, said the data.

Anish Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, Karnal, said they had appointed a nodal officer at every procurement centre and grain market to ensure lifting. “All officials are working tirelessly to ensure smooth lifting,” said the DC.

In some grain markets, the authorities have faced problems of lifting due to direct delivery to the FCI due to less availability of wagons for the lifting of procured wheat to railway stations, said the sources.

Mukul Kumar, Director, Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs Department, said the procurement agencies had been directed to speed up the lifting. “We are hopeful that the lifting will pick up pace in a couple of days,” he added. “We are in touch with FCI higher authorities to resolve the issues related to lifting in different grain markets,” he maintained. —TNS

power given to DCs to get stocks lifted

• Concerned at the poor lifting in the grain markets, the state government on Tuesday evening authorised the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and District Food and Supplies Controllers (DFSCs) to get wheat stocks lifted by other transporters and arhtiyas
• The orders read: “On the perusal of the status at the e-Kharid portal, it has been noticed that the lifting of the wheat produce is not satisfactory”