New Delhi, March 28 (IANS) Punjab and Chhattisgarh topped among states as the Centre procured 741.62 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2021-22, up to March 27, government data showed on Monday.
Stating that the paddy procurement is progressing smoothly in KMS 2021-22 at minimum support price (MSP) from farmers, officials said that paddy procurement has been done from Chandigarh, Gujarat, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tripura, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Pudducherry, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.
About 105.14 lakh farmers have been benefited with an MSP value of Rs 1,45,358.13 crore, government data showed.
Apart from Punjab (1,87,28,335 MT) and Chhattisgarh (92,01,000 MT), the other top paddy procurement states included Telangana (70,22,000 MT), Uttar Pradesh (65,53,029 MT) Odisha (57,16,134), Haryana (55,30,596), Madhya Pradesh (45,82,610), and Bihar (44,90,319 MT).
Chhattisgarh, with 21,05,972, topped the list of states of farmer beneficiaries from whom purchases were done under MSP followed by Odisha (12,90,846), Telangana (10,62,428), Uttar Pradesh (9,47,326), Punjab (9,33,263), Madhya Pradesh (6,61,756), West Bengal (6,43,401), Bihar (6,42,225), Maharashtra (4,74,855), and Tamil Nadu (4,09,088).
A Rajya Sabha member and close aide of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her inception in Punjab affairs has caused suspicion among the leaders in Punjab who were fighting a turf war. Soni could be reckoned to be the choice of the high command if Congress returns to power as a consensus candidate.
The new limit will apply to both Indian passport holders as well as persons of Indian origin carrying the Overseas Citizen of India card travelling to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province through Kartarpur corridor.
The development comes after the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella organisation of farmer bodies, suspended the agitation after the Union government repealed the three farm laws and conceded its other demands. Subsequently the farmers started vacating the Delhi borders where they have been stationed for more than a year.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday gave a clarion call for the establishment of a truly federal structure in the country, with genuine cultural, political and economic autonomy to states. It also announced to implement a Rs 50,000 per acre crop insurance scheme, besides commitment to revive the pre-2004 pension scheme for government employees.
In order to provide constructed houses to the economically weaker section (EWS) across the state, the Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday approved invitation of applications for allotment of 25,000 houses to be constructed by urban development authorities. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Charanjit Channi here.
On October 3, eight people, including four protesting farmers, had died when a SUV belonging to Ashish Mishra had mowed them down on the outskirts of Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. One local journalist had died in the ensuing violence.
