Farmers Movement Archive

Freight train service off track, Punjab exhausts gunny bale stock

With freight trains service not available due to the ongoing farmers’ protest, the Punjab food and civil supplies department has fallen short of gunny bales for the ongoing paddy procurement. Over 150 lakh tonne paddy has been procured and the state says another 25-30 lakh tonne is still to be procured. “Procurement can take place only when the gunny bags are made available,” said a food department officer. A bale has 500 gunny bags, with each used to fill 37.5kg paddy. Sources in the state food department said 1,154 containers of gunny bales are stuck on rail tracks in and around Delhi. There is, however, no sign of freight trains resuming service. Protesting against the Centre’s three farm bills, farm organisations started their blockade of tracks on September 24. In October, the Centre announced stopping trains, including freight, seeking assurance from the state government for safety and security of tracks.The shortage has occurred even as state food department has increased the quota for rice millers to use gunny bags from the previous season to 70% from 50%. “Paddy can be filled in old bags, but rice (after shelling) has to be filled in the brand new bags to check damage to the grain,” said an officer in the food department. The state government is contemplating bringing gunny bales via roads from places where freight containers are stuck. The Jute Corporation of India supplies gunny bales and the Container Corporation of India, a subsidiary of the railways, supplies gunny bales to different mandis of Punjab from jute mills in West Bengal. “We are planning to bring bales to Punjab via road. The bales come on advance payment, so if they remain stuck in transit it is our loss,” said state food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu. With no freight service, the government has also missed out on transportation of about 20 lakh tonne of wheat and rice from the state in October. “Had the trains been allowed, we would have been in a comfortable position as far as storage space for food grain is concerned,” said an officer, adding that 136 lakh tonne of wheat and 55 lakh tonne of rice is stuck in the state’s godowns. After paddy procurement in complete, at least 120 lakh tonne more rice would need storage in godowns.

Hindustan Times

02-11-2020

Chandigarh