Punjab: Delay in wheat lifting is affecting procurement

Punjab: Slow lifting of wheat in a large number of mandis across the state today also hampered its procurement. Due to this, 61.50 per cent of the wheat procured by government procurement agencies was lying in 170 grain mandis and procurement centres of Sangrur district till Wednesday, official sources said. Till Wednesday evening, government procurement agencies in the district procured 4,26,040 metric tonnes of wheat, out of which only 1,63,989 metric tonnes could be lifted. Thus, till yesterday evening, 2,62,051 metric tonnes of wheat was lying in the open in grain mandis and procurement centres of Sangrur district without lifting. Though traders had procured 1,63,008 metric tonnes of wheat in grain mandis and procurement centres till Wednesday evening, they had lifted every grain of wheat till yesterday evening. Government agencies are procuring wheat at the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,425 per quintal, while traders are reportedly buying wheat at Rs 2,430, i.e. Rs 5 per quintal more than the MSP. The civil administration in Muktsar today started the verification process for trucks deployed to transport the wheat crop from the mandis under government contract, following allegations of discrepancies in vehicle registration details. The move comes in the wake of allegations levelled by the Anaaj Mandi Mazdoor Sangh, which claimed that the transport contractor had submitted fake or non-existent registration numbers for some vehicles, leading to the accumulation of wheat sacks in the grain mandis. The problem of delayed lifting is being reported from almost every district of the state. To avoid such a problem in Jalandhar, special mandis have been made operational here.

It is worth noting that there are 78 mandis in the district and 23 temporary yards have been made operational along with the existing regular mandis for this season to avoid overcrowding and ensure smooth procurement. Amid reports of delay in lifting of the crop, Deputy Commissioner Dr Preeti Yadav visited Patiala and other grain markets to take stock of the wheat procurement process. Around 3 lakh metric tonnes of wheat has been lifted so far from all 147 mandis under Ludhiana East and West Circle. Pathankot district is leading in terms of lifting in Punjab, followed by Gurdaspur and then Ludhiana. Meanwhile, many farmers also complained that they are not being given sacks on time in many mandis and they have to wait for two-three days to get the moisture content checked.