Jalandhar April 26 (Jaswinder Singh Azad)- Taking a serious notice of recent reports of farmers dumping their crops in the open including cremation grounds due to a lack of storage space in grain markers, Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary criticised the AAP government for their flawed wheat procurement process.
She said the farmers are the backbone of our nation, and it is unacceptable that their hard work is going to waste due to the inefficiency of the government, adding that the Punjab government must take immediate action to address the issue of wheat procurement and ensure that farmers are not forced to dump their crops in the open.
According to reports, Punjab has a total of 165 lakh million tonnes of covered storage space, of which only 85.9 LMT is available for storing this year’s wheat. As a result, mandis are filled to the brim, and there is no space for getting extra grain. Karamjit Chaudhary said this situation has arisen due to the government’s slow response after the recent rainfalls, leading to tardy lifting of grains and glut in mandis.
The decision of the FCI to take direct delivery of 80 per cent of new wheat from mandis
The decision of the FCI to take direct delivery of 80 per cent of new wheat from mandis and not to use covered and plinth storage (CAP) has only made matters worse. Although the FCI has now allowed the use of 40 CAP storage points, the glut in mandis continues, and the inability of the FCI to move grains in special trains has resulted in the slow transportation of wheat.
This has been further compounded by the state government’s Vehicle Tracking System (VTS), which seems not to have taken off as many transporters have not been able to install it.
Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary emphasised the need for better management of the wheat procurement process and coordination between various departments involved. She said the harvest should be lifted quickly from the mandis to ensure that it is not wasted.
She further added that the current situation highlights the need for a long-term strategy to ensure adequate storage space for future harvests. “The government must invest in infrastructure and facilities to ensure that farmers have sufficient storage space to store their crops, and there is no wastage,” she said.
