Farmers should not worry at all, every single grain would be procured, procurement to start from tomorrow: DC

Khanna/Payal/Sahnewal (Ludhiana): In view of the upcoming wheat procurement season, Deputy Commissioner Mr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal today visited the Mandis in Khanna, Sahnewal and Payal areas of the district and took stock of the arrangements there. The wheat procurement is to start from tomorrow (April 15, 2020) onwards.
While interacting with the arhtiyas (commission agents) and labour in the Mandis, the Deputy Commissioner told them that this time, due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic, the farmers would be able to bring their produce in the Mandis only as per their turn.
Mr Agrawal informed that as per the directions of the Punjab government, lockdown/curfew is enforced in the district. He said that as per the directions, the district administration would ensure that there is no rush of farmers in the Mandis. He said that for this purpose, the farmers would be issued token passes, and it would be on the basis of these tokens that the farmers would be able to bring their produce in mandis. He said that the arhtiyas would ensure that the farmers bring their produce in the mandis as per their given schedule.
The Deputy Commissioner said that in view of the procurement season, the District Mandi Officer has been directed to ensure that arrangements of cleanliness and other facilities should be made in the mandis. He informed that the arhtiyas and labour have been given training regarding hand washing, wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and use of sanitiser etc by the officials of Mandi Board. All this material would be provided to the Labour by the arhtiyas. He said that the arhtiyas would ensure that the farmers and labour wash their hands every half an hour.
Mr Agrawal informed that the arhtiyas and Labour would be issued curfew e-passes so that they can commute to the Mandis and do their work. He warned of strict police action if any person is caught roaming somewhere else (other than home or mandi) on the basis of these curfew e-passes. He also directed the district officials of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department to ensure that they provide ample amount of bardana to the arhtiyas well in advance.
On the basis of the statistics provided by the department officials, the Deputy Commissioner stated that the 221 Mandis of district Ludhiana are expecting 8.51 MT of wheat this season. He informed that the procurement season would be from April 15-June 15, 2020.
He was also accompanied by Commissioner of Police Mr Rakesh Kumar Agrawal, SDMs Mr Sagar Setia, Mr Sandeep Singh and Mr Amarjit Singh Bains, besides several others.