ALL ARRANGEMENTS IN PLACE FOR WHEAT PROCUREMENT FROM 1ST APRIL: ANURAG VERMA

CHIEF SECRETARY HOLDS MEETING WITH DCS & OFFICERS OF PROCUREMENT AGENCIES

DIRECTS PROMPT PAYMENTS & ROBUST MECHANISM FOR PROCUREMENT

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 procurement arrangements. Chief Secretary said that the procurement is beginning from April 1st and all the necessary arrangements have been made in this regard.

Divulging more, Mr Verma said that the wheat has been sown in 35.07 Lakh Hectare area in Punjab which is likely to result in 161.30 Lakh Metric Tonne (LMT) yield. The Cash Credit Limit (CCL) to the extent of Rs. 30,776 Cr is needed out of which Rs. 27077.91 Cr has been received for April. The balance amount for the month of May would be received soon. The Punjab Mandi Board has announced 1908 regular purchase centres which would be allotted soon to the various agencies as per the advice of procurement agencies.

Chief Secretary directed the Deputy Commissioners to ensure that the farmers face no hassles during the procurement and apart from robust mechanism for procurement in the mandis, special attention should be paid to the basic facilities. There must be prompt payment to the farmers in a hassle free manner, said the Mr Verma and further directed the Deputy Commissioners in case any issue is pending with any procurement agency, it must be brought to his notice immediately so as to ensure that no problem occurs in the procurement.

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.