Chandigarh, October 19: The Punjab Government led by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has always kept the interests of all the stakeholders connected with the procurement process at its heart. “The ongoing procurement season has seen 16,37,517 Metric Tonnes of paddy procured out of the 18,31,588 Metric Tonnes that arrived in the mandis of the state until yesterday evening, which amounts to 90 percent.”

Payment, nearly Rs. 3000 Crore have been credited

     As regards the payment, nearly Rs. 3000 Crore have been credited into the accounts of the farmers, said the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister, Punjab, Mr. Lal Chand Kataruchak while interacting with the mediapersons here today.

Divulging more, the Minister said that in order to ensure smooth and hassle free procurement season, the State Government has operationalized 2651 procurement centres. Besides, till date 2184 rice millers have applied for the allotment of rice mills.

Paddy procured  : 30 Lakh Metric Tonne storage space to be available 

    Addressing the storage space issue, the Minister revealed that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) currently has 9.5 LMT of available space. He stated that milling will begin in December, creating nearly 30 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of space by December 2024.

He also noted that this year, they have moved 4 LMT more food grain compared to last year. From April to September this year, they transported 85.53 LMT of food grain, up from 81.73 LMT during the same period in 2023.

Demands of rice millers emphatically taken up with Union Government

     Concerning the demands of the rice millers, the Minister informed that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has emphatically taken up the various demands of rice millers during meeting with the Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Kataruchak stated that the State Government is returning the Custom Milling Rice (CMR) securities to the millers, except for one year, as part of its efforts to support their welfare. This action has relieved the rice millers of Rs. 150 crore.

benefit of Rs. 300 crore for millers.

The CMR security rate, which was previously Rs. 175 per tonne, has now been reduced to Rs. 10 per tonne, resulting in a benefit of Rs. 300 crore for millers. Additionally, this year’s policy sets the security rate based on tonne capacity. In previous years, a uniform security fee of Rs. 11 lakh was charged from each mill. Now, mills with a capacity of 2 MT will be charged Rs. 5 lakh, those with a capacity of 2 to 5 MT will pay Rs. 7.5 lakh, and mills with a capacity of more than 5 MT will be levied Rs. 11 lakh.

Punjab Government has revised the rate of loading

  Apart from this, keeping the interests of Labourers/Palledars working in the Grain Markets in mind, the Punjab Government has revised the rate of loading of sack from Rs. 1.94 to Rs. 2.34.

 The Minister exhorted all the stakeholders to work in unison to ensure a successful procurement season as the Government is leaving no stone upturned for their welfare.