Paddy purchase: Hoshiarpur DC orders to accelerate lifting

Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, October 15

Deputy Commissioner Apneet Riyait on Friday directed the officials of the Food Supplies Department and procurement agencies to further accelerate the pace of lifting of crop from mandis.

While reviewing the procurement, payment and lifting in mandis in a meeting with officials/agencies concerned, the DC said besides lifting, timely purchase of crop and payment to farmers should also be ensured. The administration had made elaborate arrangements to ensure hassle-free procurement so that there should be no inconvenience to stakeholders, especially farmers.

She said a sufficient number of gunny bags (bardana) was also made available at all procurement centres so that lifting could be ensured well in time. It was also informed in the meeting that so far, 95,475 metric tonne (MT) of paddy arrived in the mandis, of which 94,146 had already been procured vis-à-vis generating payment advice to the tune of Rs 135.52 crore. The District Food Supplies Controller also apprised that 13,441 MT paddy arrived in mandis and the procurement was taking place in a hassle-free manner. She said 4.48 lakh of MT paddy arrival was expected in this season and nearly 50 rice shellers had already been linked with the respective mandis across the district.