Fatehgarh Sahib: As rice millers call off strike, lifting of paddy gets underway

Surinder Bhardwaj

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 23

The strike launched by rice millers was called off, owing to which, the arrival of paddy in the 32 procurement centres of the district picked up pace and lifting of the procured paddy began. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Parneet Shergill said, till Monday, 2,06,367 MT paddy has arrived, out of which, 2,02,179 MT has been procured and 88,179 MT has been lifted. Pungrain purchased 87,114 MT of paddy, while Markfed, Pungrain and Warehouse purchased 48,118 MT, 44,123 MT and 22,824 MT respectively. Payments worth Rs 400.36 crore have been transferred to the account of farmers.

She further added that the lifting of procured paddy is going in full swing and the mandis will be cleared within days after intensification of lifting process. She appealed the farmers to bring only dry paddy to the markets, so that they do not face any problem while selling their crop. Harvesting of paddy at night is discouraged as it increases the moisture content in the crop. She highlighted the positive results fetched by district administration’s campaign against stubble burning. Farmers who have decided not to burn stubble and to plough the fields in order to reduce environmental pollution were also praised by the DC.