Jaitley assures Capt of all arrangements for wheat procurement

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 22 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on Wednesday assured Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh that he would direct the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure that all arrangements for wheat procurement in the state are in place by March 25.

After a meeting between Jaitley and Amarinder at Delhi, the office of the Punjab Chief Minister in a statement said the assurance came after the CM met the Union Finance Minister at his residence to seek immediate authorisation and release of Rs 20,683 crore Cash Credit Limit (CCL) from the Central government for smooth and timely wheat procurement in the state.

Captain Amarinder informed the Finance Minister that a proposal seeking the CCL had already been sent to the Reserve Bank of India by the state government, which hoped to procure over 100 LMT of wheat in this procurement season, commencing April 1.

Jaitley assured the Chief Minister of the Centre’s full cooperation in ensuring that the farmers in Punjab do not face any problems in the procurement of their grain, Raveen Thukral, media adviser to the Punjab CM, disclosed after the meeting.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister, pointing out that Punjab was the largest contributor to the Central pool of foodgrains, requested the Union Finance to ensure timely authorisation of CCL, which was still pending.

The Chief Minister had on Saturday directed all DCs to personally monitor the procurement process and ensure smooth and hassle-free procurement of the farmers’ crop.

Arrangements are being made on war-footing to streamline the procurement process in all the 1,800 mandis of Punjab.

Captain Amarinder, who is incharge of the Food and Civil Supplies department, has also cancelled all labour and transportation tenders finalised for the wheat procurement process by the previous SAD-BJP government. Fresh tenders have already been called for.

The CM has issued stringent orders to ensure that the farmers and arhtiyas do not face any problems in the mandis. The state mandi board has been directed to provide all basic amenities and facilities in the mandis, in addition to smooth and timely payments, as well as complete transparency in the process, which the new government has decentralized to make it more structured and effective.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by state Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Chief Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar.