Farmers Movement Archive

No shortage of gunny bags, 5L farmers paid Rs 14,958cr

Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday directed all procurement agencies to ensure prompt lifting and timely payment to farmers through the newly introduced Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system during the ongoing rabi marketing season (RMS) 2021-22. Reviewing the procurement progress at a virtual meeting with his cabinet, Amarinder ordered strict adherence to Covid protocols amid the current surge. He urged all farmers, arhtiyas, labourers, employees of procurement agencies and other stakeholders visiting grain markets to get themselves vaccinated at Covid vaccination camps in all 154 market committees across the state. Regarding availability of gunny bags, principal secretary of food, civil supplies K A P Sinha informed the chief minister that the issue had been sorted out and there was no shortage. Some instances of shortage were reported earlier from some mandis as the Centre had allocated fewer bales in contrast to the requirement of the state agencies and early arrivals had pushed up demand, he said. The chief minister expressed satisfaction at the smooth procurement amid challenges faced by the state due to the ongoing farmers agitation against the farm laws passed by the Centre, the initial hostility of arhtiyas towards DBT, shortage of labour and bales as well as heavy and quick early arrivals along with the surge in Covid cases in the state. Wheat procurement commenced in Punjab on April 10. In a span of just 18 days, 98 LMT wheat has arrived in mandis, of which 95.97 LMT has already been procured. Further, 70% of the stock due to be lifted in 72 hours has been lifted from mandis, while 90% of the due payment of MSP — Rs 14,958 crore — has been cleared by the department directly into the bank accounts of nearly 5 lakh farmers.

The Times of India

2021-04-29

Chandigarh