Haryana begins wheat procurement with new biometric rules, tractor entry checks

Ahead of the one-and-a-half-month long wheat procurement season beginning Wednesday, Haryana government on Tuesday assured farmers of elaborate arrangements across over 400 mandis in the state, even as the Congress accused the government of hatching a “clever conspiracy” by introducing complex procurement norms.

This year, the procurement will begin under the gaze of CCTV cameras and during the bidding process, biometric verification of the farmers registered on the “Meri Fasal Mera Byora” portal or any one of their three authorised representatives will be mandatory.

Officials added that gate passes for the farmers will be issued through the e-Kharid mobile app, and uploading of the vehicle photograph along with the vehicle registration number will be mandatory. However, farmers with no number plates will be allowed to display the number manually on paper or by paint.

Officials informed that for wheat procurement, 416 mandis have been designated in the state. The procurement of mustard is already underway across 112 mandis since March 28, with a procurement target of about 13 lakh tonnes this year.

Haryana’s minister of state for food, civil supplies and consumer affairs Rajesh Nagar said that grain markets across the state have been readied with a focus on cleanliness and essential facilities for farmers. “Haryana is fully geared up for the rabi procurement season 2026–27,” Nagar said, adding that procurement set to begin from April 1 will continue till May 15.

He said that officers concerned, including district food and supply controllers and the district managers of the agency, have undergone training to ensure smooth procurement operations.“All mandi locations have been geo-fenced. Under this facility, it will be ensured that all activities, including the issuance of gate passes, auctions, the generation of ‘J-Forms’ (sale receipts), and the lifting of produce are conducted exclusively within the mandi premises,” said the minister.

To achieve this, he said, physical presence within the geo-fenced zone of the mandi is verified, thereby preventing any unauthorised individual from fraudulently selling a produce in the farmer’s name.

“Crop verification will be done through a satellite imagery-based system started by the agriculture department to verify the crops grown on the land declared by the farmers, besides checks by revenue and district agriculture officials and a third layer of validation using heat maps generated by HARSAC,” the minister said.

New rules will create procedural hurdles: Congress

Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Rao Narender Singh launched a sharp attack on the BJP government in Haryana over the government’s wheat procurement process. He termed it a “Tughlaqi diktat” and said the new rules are a “clever conspiracy” to harass farmers and discourage procurement at minimum support price (MSP).

He said the rules the government has introduced will create procedural hurdles, leading to long queues in mandis, delays in arrival of crops, and disruption in lifting operations. The state Congress chief said that harvesting through combine harvesters continues day and night and crops often reach mandis at night. He said time restrictions imposed on bringing the produce to mandis will lead to unnecessary harassment of the farmers.

He alleged that by reducing the wheat procurement target and keeping storage capacity limited, the government is deliberately attempting to reduce procurement.

This article has bee republished from The Hindustan Times.