Govt to appoint grading officer in Maharashtra for pulse procurement: Radha Mohan Singh

Radha Mohan Singh

The Centre will appoint a grading officer from the NAFED panel to bring transparency in procurement of pulses in Maharashtra, said Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Saturday. The officer will be drawn from the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India NAFED), a body of farmers, he said.

The move will ensure adequate procurement of pulses under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) in Maharashtra. “The procurement of pulses in Maharashtra, specially of moong, urad and soybean, was not sufficient due to inefficiency of grading in the state. So to bring transparency in this process we will appoint a grading officer from the NAFED panel,” he said. Singh was speaking to reporters after a meeting with Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Pandurang Phundkar and officials of his department here.

Singh also chaired a meeting of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Marketing Federation, which was attended by Phundkar, Co-operation Minister Subhash Deshmukh and other officials. The minister said after procurement farmers will get dues in their bank account withing three days. “It has been decided that farmers will get their payment within three days after procurement in their bank account.” Further, Singh said the government has decided to give relaxation on agriculture produce affected due to rain and moisture.