He said till now 4.19 LMT of wheat has arrived in Punjab mandis, of which 3.22 LMT has been procured.
Payments worth Rs 151 crore have been made into the farmers’ accounts, he added.
The minister said payments are being made within 24 hours of the crop procurement.
Kataruchak pointed out that this time the wheat quality has been of a very high standard.
The state government is increasing the storage capacity by 31 LMT and this time, the central agencies will directly lift the 15 LMT crop from mandis itself in the next few days, he noted.
The minister said the farmers will not face any difficulty in mandis and he is personally reviewing the procurement arrangements.
Kataruchak also said labourers undertaking loading work in mandis are also part of the procurement process.
Hence their labour rates have been increased by 43 paise to Rs 2.64 per sack. PTI CHS TRB BAL BAL
