April 13, 2022 5:50:17 am
Hours before the strike, workers unload wheat for procurement at grain market in Patiala on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Harmeet Sodhi) Even as the Centre is despatching five teams to 15 districts of Punjab amid reports of procurement agencies refusing to purchase wheat, state agencies and coordination committee have gone on a strike from Tuesday afternoon. The strike comes a day after CM Bhagwant Mann claimed that his government had reached record purchase and payment of wheat crop till now.
Explaining the reason behind the strike, Vinay Kumar, president of the coordination committee, said that wheat being procured did not meet the central government’s specifications and hence the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has rejected many samples. “The state government has already written to the Centre seeking clarification. Till the time the guidelines are not changed, we are on strike and wheat procurement will not take place,” Kumar said.
Earlier in the day, state procurement agencies had held a meeting in Chandigarh in which they discussed two major issues, including the percentage of broken and shrivelled grain and the movement of wheat from the mandis. With the proportion of shrivelled and broken percentage in wheat grain being almost triple of the permissible limit set by FCI, which is the Centre’s procurement agency, the state agencies are facing a tough time.
Jagmohan Singh Dakaunda, general secretary of BKU Dakaunda, said that wheat coming to the mandis have a shriveled grain percentage ranging from 12% to 21% while FCI norms state that it can be up to 6%. “This year temperature in March increased a lot unexpectedly and, hence, grains have shrunken and the yield has also gone down. So instead of coming up with fresh specifications and allowing shriveled grains till 12%, FCI is rejecting the lots procured by the state agencies. This is why procurement agencies such as Pungrain, Punjab warehouse corporation, Markfed stopped purchase of wheat on Tuesday afternoon,” he said, adding that it is just another step of the Centre to run away from MSP purchase.
Jatinder Garg, president of Kaccha Ahrtiya association of Bareta Mandi, also confirmed that procurement has been stopped. “Areas where ground water availability is good, shriveled grain percentage is up to 13% but in place with poor ground water grains are shriveled up to 21% as well,” he said, adding that the adverse weather resulted in this problem and the norms need to be relaxed.
Meanwhile, later in the evening, the state government issued a press release stating that on request, the FCI has formed five teams and will send those to 15 districts of the state to assess the situation on Wednesday. Procurement is a big political issue in the state and this is the AAP government’s first procurement after coming to power. If not handled properly, the situation could lead to agitations and even unrest.
Sources in the government said that reports of shrivelled grains were received from pockets in Mansa, Bathinda, Muktsar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Kapurthala. “The arrivals have not been much yet anyway and reports of such grains are coming up from only some particular districts. We had written to the Centre seeking relaxation in norms and our request has been accepted. Teams will reach on Wednesday to collect grain samples, following which a decision will be taken,” a government functionary said, adding that the shrivelled grains do not have any nutritional deficit, just that these did not attain proper size. Food and Civil Supplies minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said, “This is a natural phenomenon and has nothing to do with the way the crop has been cultivated. It will be unfair to not purchase those.”
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