To address farmers’ issues, officials deputed in grain markets, says CM

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini claimed that paddy procurement is going on smoothly across the state with electronic weighing machines installed in grain markets.

He said that to ensure smooth procurement, the state government has appointed senior official at each mandi so that the issues of farmers could be addressed. “We have assigned duties to one official in each mandi to address farmers' issues,” said Saini in response to a question by mediapersons here on Saturday during his visit to the Mini-Secretariat.

He said that moisture content might be an issue in procurement. “If moisture content is found in the crop, procurement may be halted temporarily, but otherwise, the process will continue smoothly. Work is also in progress to install digital weighing machines in mandis, which is a key demand of the farmers,” he said.

Responding to former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s demand of Rs 3,100 bonus for farmers, Saini took a jibe saying, “It is the job of the Opposition to make demands, but when they were in power, they should have looked at their own record. At that time, farmers suffered heavy losses but were given compensation in the form of cheques for just Rs 2, forcing them to open accounts with Rs 500 just to receive those. Many farmers would simply tear such cheques in frustration.” He stressed that the present government has created an online portal to ensure fair compensation for every loss suffered by farmers.

On the issue of compensation to farmers for crop losses, he said that verification is being carried out for farmers who had registered their crop damage on the e-Kshatipurti portal. “They will receive compensation very soon. The Congress government provided Rs 1,157 crore as compensation in 10 years, the BJP government has already provided over Rs 1,550 crore in the past 10-and-a-half years,” he added.

He said that district administrations have appointed nodal officers to supervise procurement and ensure transparency.