Punjab procures 93 lakh tons wheat, 25% decline against 2021
Darpan News Desk IANS, 03 May, 2022 10:28 AM
Chandigarh, May 3 (IANS) Punjab has procured over 93 lakh tons of wheat in the ongoing rabi marketing season, a decline of 25 per cent compared with 125 lakh tons in 2021, officials said on Tuesday.
With a drastic decline in wheat arrivals, the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs has announced timeline to end the wheat procurement.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said the closure of mandis in the state will be done in a phased manner from May 5. The notification in this regard would be issued by the Mandi Board.
The minister said the inclement weather had resulted in shrivelling of grains in most parts of the state.
Following a spurt in global wheat prices, most states have witnessed a drastic drop in government purchase of wheat, but Punjab led the nation in contributing the largest quantity of wheat of more than 93 lakh tons into the central pool, he said.
Regarding the delay in relaxation of norms for shrivelled grains, he said the Centre has decided to send a second set of officials to take samples from the mandis to ascertain the extent of problem of shrivelling of grains.
Hit by the early onset of heatwave, the wheat crop in Punjab was damaged much beyond the six per cent limit specified by the Centre. This led to dropping of the yield by at least four quintals per hectare, say experts.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has slammed the state AAP government for not even approaching the Centre for the compensation to farmers who had suffered a loss of Rs 10,000 per acre due to unseasonal rains in February followed by extremely high temperatures in March.
The alliance promised Rs 10 lakh free annual health insurance for all Punjabis, Rs 2,000 per month to all women heads of 'blue card' families, 5 lakh houses and five marla plots each to homeless poor and hiking old-age pension to Rs 3,100 and shagun scheme of Rs 75,000.
In an interview to IANS, Ashwani Kumar, who was perceived as a loyalist of the Gandhi family and had supported against the 'G23' , said it was getting difficult to continue in the party. He also said he is open to join any other party.
Promising to work on the teachings of Sikh gurus with principles of non-discrimination and equality for all, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that the NDA would form the government in Punjab and would free the state from drugs.
The government can't restrict fundamental rights in the garb of maintaining public order, the counsel for the girl students seeking permission to wear the hijab told the Karnataka High Court on Monday.
On February 14, 2019, a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group attacked the CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which 40 personnel were killed.
The Customs officials on Sunday recovered an unclaimed bag containing 'cocaine capsules' valued at Rs 15 crore from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here, an official said. The official said that it was seized and a case was lodged and efforts were being made to identify the accused who abandoned the bag.
