Purchase smooth, online payment to farmers swift, claims Minister

Nawanshahr, October 27

Punjab Food, Civil Supply and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak visited Nawanshahr today and said Punjab mandis had witnessed a total arrival of as many as 84 LMT of paddy, of which 82 LMT had been purchased so far.

During his visit to review the procurement operations at mandis in Nawanshahar and Banga, he said the farmers had faced no problem during the ongoing procurement season. Even during the festivity, nobody had to stay in mandis to sell his crop as all the produce had been procured within four hours of its arrival to the mandis.

The Food Minister said Rs 10,000 crore had been transferred to the accounts of the farmers and 63 LMT paddy had been lifted from mandis.

He said that he had personally visited the state mandis to ensure that it was smooth at the ground level. “The procurement agencies have been directed from Day one to purchase the crop without causing any hitch to the farmers,” he said.

The minister was also apprised of the arrival and purchase in the Nawanshahr mandis by Deputy Commissioner C Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa. He said a total of 1,92,554 MT of paddy had been procured against the target of 3,81000 MT, out of which 1,49,820 MT had been lifted. — TNS