Punjab has surpassed all records in wheat procurement for the rabi season after government agencies have procured a record-breaking 132.08 lakh metric tonnes of wheat from them. This comes when farmers are protesting against the new farm laws for the past six months.
An Indian Express report has mentioned that this time procurement is 2 lakh metric tonnes more than the target. It is pertinent to note that it is the highest purchase made by the government in the last decade.
It has benefitted more than 9 lakh farmers as they received over Rs 23,000 crore directly into their bank accounts. It is also important to note that farmers were paid directly for the first time without the involvement of any intermediaries/middlemen/arhtiyas.
According to official data available on the website of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Punjab’s Wheat procurement in the last six years was 106..56 LMT, 117.14 LMT, 127.06 LMT, 129.33 LMT, 127.26 LMT respectively.
Director of Punjab Food Supply and Consumer Affairs Ravi Bhagat applauded the government’s direct transfer scheme and said that it was one of the main reasons for such higher procurement.
“The government has registered farmers on the Anaj Kharid portal and the money was credited into their accounts, not those of arhtiyas… Punjab has also become the first state where the J form that carries the details about the crop a farmer sells to the government is included in the Digilocker. He is not dependent on a middleman for getting the J form”, he said.
A farmer named Gurdip Singh from Chak Kalan village said, “I am very happy with this system with money coming directly. I sold my entire crop to government agencies as the MSP was also better this time.”
Also, this year’s rabi season stands 12 days shorter than the last one. It began on April 10 and ended on Thursday, May 13.
Meanwhile, In all big wheat-contributing districts in Malwa where anti-farmer law protests were held, the procurement of wheat has been lower, However, it was compensated as the procurement rose sharply in Doaba and Majha regions.
Apart from Punjab, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also transferred ₹1500 crore to the bank accounts of 75 lakh farmers in the state under the Mukhyamantri Kisan Kalyan Yojana.
