Only 22% of procured wheat lifted in Patiala
: The wheat arrival in the district’s grain markets is quick but a tardy 22% lifting has created a glut, forcing the farmers and the arhtiyas to report the slowest contracted transporter, which has major clusters out of 37.
The sluggish loading and unloading are also due to a shortage of labour. Patiala district is divided into these 37 clusters for lifting and shipping the procured wheat. A sudden arrival of 6 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of stock in the last 10 days has led to this glut. This is 12% more stock from last year, but 20% below the mark in the year 2021-22. Of the 6.8 LMT wheat arrived in Patiala till April 19, 6.7 LMT has been procured but only 1.4 LMT lifted.
The total payment, so far, has been Rs 1,155.63 crore. Patiala’s district food and supplies commissioner Ravinder Kaur said: “A sudden arrival 4 LMT wheat in the last four days created this glut. Multiple contractors have the job of shipping this stock from this district.” On Wednesday, Patiala deputy commissioner said that: “The lifting of wheat is quick, being at 25-to-30,000 metric tonnes daily, while Wednesday’s figure was 35,000 MT.”
She met the stakeholder departments and agencies, besides visiting Patiala’s grain market, PEG (private entrepreneur’s godown) at Lang village. The DC met the Food Corporation of India (FCI) officials to resolve the issues in direct delivery and storage at PEGs. She told the agencies to use the district’s 21 PEGs optimally. District mandi officer Ajaypal said that: “We have speeded up lifting to clear the glut.” Patiala Arhtiya Association president Harjit She met the stakeholder departments and agencies, besides visiting Patiala’s grain market, PEG (private entrepreneur’s godown) at Lang village. The DC met the Food Corporation of India (FCI) officials to resolve the issues in direct delivery and storage at PEGs. She told the agencies to use the district’s 21 PEGs optimally. District mandi officer Ajaypal said that: “We have speeded up lifting to clear the glut.” Patiala Arhtiya Association president Harjit Singh Sheru said: “The lifting contract for the district grain market was given to a single transporter without checking if it had the storage capacity.”
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