Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
* Strenuous efforts of the state government has yielded results- Sukhbir Badal
Chandigarh, With the personal intervention of the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal the farmers of the state would get a major reprieve as the payments of their harvest would flow electronically to them from today as per new RBI conditions and Rs 4000 crores would be disbursed to them in 24 hours.
The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal have been personally monitoring the progress of entire procurement operations by convening series of meetings with the officers of the state government and the procuring agencies.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued here today, the Chief Minister said that thestate government has made financial arrangements for Cash Credit Limit and Rs.14,640 crores has already been received . This amount was being electronically disbursed to the accounts of the commission agents for making further payments to the farmers for their produce . He said that an amount of Rs 4000 crores would be credited to the farmers in 24 hours.
Reiterating that the state government would lift every grain from the market, the Chief Minister said that all dues of the farmers would be cleared within 2-3 days. He said thattotal wheat arrivals was expected to be 110 to 125 lac MTs whereas the state government has already procured more than 50 lac MT of wheat. He said that 100% arrangement for gunny bags was already their. Mr. Badal further said that the state Government has requested the Government of india that procurement of wheat should be allowed without any value cut, because inclement weather and untimely rains are not in the hands of the farmers. However, he said that in the meantime, state Government has taken upon itself the responsibility to compensate the farmers in view of value cuts imposed by Government of india.
The Chief Minster further said that 11 Secretary level officers and also theManaging Directors of the procuring agencies have been deputed in the districts to oversee the wheat procurement operations. He said that the state government has also requested that storage gain cut for Rabi Market Season2015-16 wheat be exempted because already soaked wheat will not gain any subsequent moisture during monsoons.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that during the current Rabi procurement season the state agencies were facing a number of problems in procurement of wheat due to inclement weather, unseasonal rains and hailstorms in the months of February and March 2015. He said that these rains have caused excessive damage in the grains and also caused luster loss in the wheat crop. Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that there was also an excessive occurrence of shriveled and damaged grains which was more than the limits specified by the Government of india because of which the State agencies have been unable to procure the wheat coming in the mandis of the State.
However, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the state government took up the matter with the Government of india and requested it for relaxation of specifications so as to mitigate the hardship of the State farmers. He said that based on the State Government’s request, the Government of india vide its letter dated April 22, 2015 relaxed the specifications of wheat to be procured in the State of Punjab, according to which the wheat in Punjab was to be procured by the State agencies by imposing a value cut of Rs.10.88 paise per quintal. However, keeping in view the welfare of the farmers, the state government has decided to bear the above said value cut and the farmers will get the full MSP for the wheat sold by them, he added. “We are committed to mitigate the woes of farmers at every cost” added the Deputy Chief Minister.
