Punjab govt set for paddy procurement: Minister

All arrangements have been made for seamless procurement of paddy to ensure farmers do not face any hardship, Punjab Food and Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said on Monday.

Preparations for paddy procurement season beginning Tuesday are duly in place, Ashu said in a statement.

To ensure smooth procurement, 1,734 purchase centres have been allotted amongst the procuring agencies.

Referring to recently released paddy policy, the minister said several technological interventions have been introduced to bring about transparency and arrest mal-practises. Linkages of mandis with mills this season have been done using GPS mapping to avoid extra transportation cost, Ashu said.

The minister also informed that the requisite cash credit limit (CCL) would be arranged well in time in coming week, before the commencement of paddy arrival.

As per a Agriculture Department report, area under cultivation was 29.20 lakh hectares, and the state was expecting procurement of 165 lakh metric tonnes, .