DW BUREAU / Chandigarh / New Delhi

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday met Union minister Pralhad Joshi and raised concerns of the rice millers and commission agents in the state. Mann told Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Pralhad Joshi that procurement of paddy is like a festival in the state whose economy depends on this season. The procurement process is also important for ensuring food security in the country, he said.

The chief minister said due to persistent shortage of storage space during the previous season and availability of only about seven lakh MT storage space as on date, there is resentment amongst the rice millers of the state for carrying out milling.

He said this is adversely affecting the procurement and lifting of paddy from mandis, thus leading to resentment amongst farmers. He urged Joshi to ensure smooth procurement operations and movement to ensure liquidation of at least 20 LMT foodgrains per month from the state till March 31, 2025 by augmenting movement plan under OMSS, ethanol allocation, export, welfare schemes and others. Responding to issues raised by the chief minister, Joshi agreed to transport 120 lakh metric ton paddy from outside the state by March 2025, a statement from the Punjab government said.

Flagging the issue of payment of transportation charges to millers for delivery of rice, the chief minister said due to non-availability of storage space at the linked milling centres, many a time the FCI offers space to the millers to deliver rice at their depots which are in majority of the cases located at a distance ranging from 50-100 km.

He urged the minister to reimburse to the millers the transportation charges for actual distance travelled for delivery of rice without any deduction of backward charges and others in order to ensure fair play and encourage them. Replying to the issue, the Union minister assured Mann that the Centre will bear the transportation cost incurred by the millers in this regard.

Mann said as the previous milling season had extended beyond March 31 due to space crunch, it resulted in more losses on account of driage, weight loss or discoloration of paddy due to hot weather conditions prevailing from April to July 24.

Raising the issue of Out-Turn Ratio (OTR) of hybrid varieties of paddy, the chief minister said grade A paddy it has been fixed at 67 per cent by the central government. He said considering the significant water consumption associated with traditional varieties of grade A paddy, the state has promoted cultivation of certain hybrid varieties in the state.

However, the chief minister said the millers have informed that the OTR of these varieties is lesser than 67 per cent and needs to be re-assessed, adding he requested the Union minister to depute central teams to study the OTR of these varieties of paddy. Raising another issue, the chief minister pleaded that the allowance to the 'arhtias' (commission agents) according to the Punjab Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act.

Mann said the commission being paid to the arhtias has not been increased since 2019-20 whereas their expenses have increased manifold over these years. He said while the minimum support price (MSP) of crops is increased every year by the Centre, the arhtias are being paid commission at the rate of only Rs 45.38 to 46 per quintal despite the fact that the Punjab APMC Act, rules and bylaws provide for a commission of 2.5 per cent on MSP, which comes out to be Rs 58 per quintal in the current kharif season.

The chief minister said there is huge resentment amongst the arhtias at the ground level due to their stagnant commission for several years. He urged the Union minister to ensure that the commission of arthias is allowed at 2.5 per cent of MSP.
(editor@dailyworld.in)