Paddy procurement: Mann meets Union minister, flags issues of millers, arhtiyas

After meeting chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Union consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister Prahlad Joshi on Monday announced that 20 lakh tonnes of foodgrains will be moved out of Punjab to consumer states every month to create enough space for the storage of paddy.

Mann also raised concerns of rice millers and commission agents (arhtiyas) about the storage of freshly procured paddy.

This season paddy has been sown over 32 lakh hectares and experts have predicted a bumper crop of 230 lakh tonnes with the state food and civil supplies fixing a target of 185 lakh tonnes for procurement.

In Punjab, procurement officially began on October 1 but various factors including paucity of space with Food Corporation of India (FCI), arhtiyas strike over hike in commission and rice millers’ reluctance to store paddy and apprehensions over the out-turn ratio (post milling yield) of the PR-126 paddy variety, have affected the procurement.Mann taking up the issue of lack of space said only 7 lakh tonnes of free space is available. The state contributes up to 45% of paddy of the total country’s need for the public distribution system (PDS)

Mann taking up the issue of lack of space said only 7 lakh tonnes of free space is available. The state contributes up to 45% of paddy of the total country’s need for the public distribution system (PDS).

“There is resentment among rice millers that due to lack of space, the paddy could not be shelled,” the CM said, urging the central minister to ensure movement of at least 20 lakh tonnes of grains per month from the state till March 2025.“Responding to issues raised by the CM, Joshi agreed to transport 120 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from the state by March 2025,” said s state government spokesperson.

Nearly 175 lakh tonnes of rice and wheat from the previous two seasons are stored in state godowns. According to the officials in the state food and civil supplies department, the movement of grains from the state in the past few days has been negligible.

Bharat Bhushan Binta, president of the rice millers association, who had accompanied Mann and was present at the meeting, said the majority of millers in the state have decided not to mill paddy in these volatile circumstances.

“We have asked millers whosoever wants to shell paddy can do that at their risk but many have not come forward,” he said, adding that the issues of certain hybrid varieties of PR126 not giving adequate quantity of two-third rice remains a concern.

Explaining miller’s apprehensions, he said for example, for every 100 quintals of paddy shelled, a miller has to give 67% (67kg) of rice, and in case the yield is less, the miller is responsible for filling the gap.

Raising the issue of OTR, the CM asked the Union minister to reassess the yield, asking the Union minister to depute the central teams for the study.“The CM asked the central minister to reassess the driage percentage which has been lowered by the centre to 0.5%,” said a spokesperson. Joshi told the CM that the Centre was already getting a study conducted by the Indian Institute Of Technology, Kharagpur, regarding OTR and driage and Punjab’s viewpoint will also be made a part of this study.

Mann also raised the issue of reimbursing the millers the transportation charges for the actual distance travelled for delivery of rice without any deduction of backward charges and others 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.

CM also demanded that arhtiyas be given a dami (commission) of 2.5% as per the Punjab Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act. Mann said that the commission has not been increased in the last five years and arhtiyas are being paid a lump sum amount of ₹45.38 to ₹46 per quintal only since 2019-20. “The centre will sympathetically consider this demand of the state government and arhtiyas,” the union minister told the CM.

This article has been republished from The Hindustan Times