DW BUREAU / PATIALA Procurement operations are running smoothly and uninterrupted amid COVID precautions in Patiala district mandis as 424 procurement centers have been set up for the purchase of wheat that are proving a boon for the farmers who are arriving with wheat produce in the mandis. District Marketing and Enforcement Officer, Ajay Pal Singh while divulging the details said that we have had only 110 procurement centers in the district earlier but as the Coronavirus impacted all the systems, in place, then keeping in view more precautions, we have extended the number of temporary mandis to 424 to curb the chaotic situations in Mandis. He said as the district mandis have an influx with 95 percent of targeted produce already, so now we are insisting upon to vacate the mandis by expediting the lifting process. District Food and Supplies Controller Harsharanjit Singh Brar added that with the introduction of new payment system, DBT, we the procurement agencies are facing some challenges in the starting but now everything is fine and farmers have started to get direct transfer of wheat payments in their accounts. After getting the payment directly to his account of the sold wheat, farmer Amarinder Singh while appreciating the arrangements made by the government, said that he had brought his wheat to Samana grain market which was procured by Pungrain on the same day and got direct payment of the produce on the third day that transferred to his account. Similarly, Amarjit Singh of village Kotla said that the payment of crop which he had sold on April 11 in mandi was paid directly to him through his account on April 13 and for the produce that was sold on April 12 was credited to his account on April 17. Lauding the arrangements made by the government in the mandis, the procurement process and the constructive steps taken by the government for smooth transfer of direct payment, he said that due to such foolproof arrangements made by the government during the COVID pandemic, the farmers would not have to face any difficulty in the mandis. (editor@dailyworld.in)