Amarinder Singh approaches Food Minister over MSP in paddy procurement

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has written to Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan seeking driage at the rate of 2 per cent instead of 1 per cent of the minimum support price (MSP) to ensure hassle-free and uninterrupted procurement for the remaining Kharif season.

In his letter to Paswan, the chief minister pointed out that such relaxation was warranted primarily on account of the excessive/untimely rain and hailstorm that occurred immediately before harvesting, which had adversely impacted the out-turn ratio, thus causing problems in procuring paddy due to the relatively high moisture content.

The chief minister further apprised Paswan that higher moisture content in paddy arrivals in several wholesale markets coupled with a dip in temperature this year has led to unrest among the millers and farmers, which was hampering the paddy purchase operations, an official statement said Friday.

Singh also informed the food minister that various procurement agencies across the state had so far procured 130 lakh tonnes of paddy during the current Kharif marketing season 2018-19.