Punjab Govt reopens 213 mandis after paddy growers' protest

Chandigarh, November 15

With farmers threatening to protest against the closure of temporary market yards and mandis, the state government has reopened 213 procurement centres.

Farmers and farmer unions have been protesting the closure of mandis saying paddy harvesting was delayed in the wake of rains at the time of harvest and the re-sowing done in the aftermath of floods. The BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) has already threatened to protest on the issue.

The Punjab Mandi Board started closing procurement centres from November 9. In three consecutive days, 1,348 such centres (regular and temporary yards) were closed in the state.

However, the government has now restarted 213 procurement centres. According to details, 39 mandis in Barnala, 23 mandis in Jalandhar, 39 in Moga, 58 in Sangrur and 32 in Faridkot district have been restarted, among others.

The Punjab Mandi Board has closed 198 procurement centres out of 205 in Ferozepur district and now one market has been reopened. Out of 93 procurement centres in Gurdaspur district, 83 were closed, while 74 out of 255 procurement centres were closed in Sangrur district. At present, 1,129 procurement centres have been closed in the state.

BKU (Ugrahan) state secretary Shingara Singh Mann said due to late harvesting, the crop was still coming to the markets.

The government had set a target to purchase 182 LMT paddy, of which nearly 172.54 LMT has been purchased.

Open mandis till Nov 20: SAD to govt

• SAD chief Sukhbir Badal on Wednesday condemned the Aam Aadmi Party government for closing 1,559 grain markets despite the fact that paddy was still arriving
• “This government is working against the farmers. Earlier, it refused to pay compensation for crop loss. Now, it has closed mandis arbitrarily,” he said.
• He said the procurement should be done at all mandis till November 20 as 2.91 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had arrived in mandis on Tuesday