Wheat Procurement Ready from April 1: Anurag Verma
CHIEF SECRETARY HOLDS MEETING WITH DCS & OFFICERS OF PROCUREMENT AGENCIES
Chandigarh, March 27 : Keeping in view the harvesting during Rabi Marketing Season (RMS), Chief Secretary Anurag Verma today held a meeting through video conferencing with the officers of the procurement agencies as well as the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts to take stock of the Wheat procurement arrangements.
The Chief Secretary announced that Wheat procurement will commence on April 1st, with all necessary arrangements completed. Anurag Verma elaborated, stating that wheat cultivation covers 35.07 lakh hectares in Punjab, projecting a yield of 161.30 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT). A Cash Credit Limit (CCL) of Rs. 30,776 Cr is required, with Rs. 27,077.91 Cr already secured for April, and the remaining balance expected shortly.
The Punjab Mandi Board is designating 1908 regular purchase centers, soon assigning them to various agencies as per procurement advisories.
The Chief Secretary emphasised farmer convenience, instructing Deputy Commissioners to ensure smooth procurement processes, focusing on robust mandi facilities and timely payments.Officials received directives to promptly report any pending issues with procurement agencies to resolve potential procurement obstacles.
Among those present in the meeting included the Principal Secretary Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Vikas Garg, Secretary Finance Gurpreet Kaur Sapra, MD Punjab State Warehousing Corporation Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar, MD PUNSUP Sonali Giri, Director Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Puneet Goyal, Secretary Punjab Mandi Board Amrit Kaur Gill, General Manager FCI B. Srinivasan, MD Markfed Girish Dayalan and Additional Secretary Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Kamal Garg.
