Punjab gears up for October paddy procurement drive

Exhorting the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department to gear up for ensuring a smooth and hassle free paddy procurement season from October 1st till November 15th this year, the Minister incharge of the Department Lal Chand Kataruchak today directed that all the necessary arrangements and mechanism must be put in place by September 15th.

Taking stock of the procurement arrangements during a review meeting at Anaj Bhawan, the Minister further gave instructions that during the period from September 15th to November 15th, no officer of the department should proceed on Ex India leave.

The Minister was apprised that preparations on war footing are being made for procuring 190 Lakh Metric Tonne (LMT) paddy and as regards the movement of rice to create more storage space, 68 LMT of rice has been moved out of the State from October 2024 till June 2025. Further, from August 2025 till June 2026 nearly 82.5 LMT of rice would be moved out at the rate of 7.5 LMT Per Month.

It was also brought to the notice of the Minister that the draft of the Custom Milling Policy for the year 2025-26 is likely to be ready within this month. Apart from this, the Labour & Cartege policy 2024 along with Foodgrain Transportation Policy 2024 has been extended till September 30th, 2025 so as to ensure a successful paddy procurement season.

On the quality aspect, the Minister was apprised that the services of the laboratories accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing end Calibration Laboratories (NABL) are availed for chemical testing of the foodgrains as per the FCI norms.

The Minister also directed the officers that the tarpaulins, wooden crates, Bardana and the mesh nets must be arranged in required quantity with emphasis on quality.

Regarding the e-KYC process, the Minister was informed that it has been completed with regard to 1.25 Crore beneficiaries out of 1.57 Crore and the people are being made aware that they must undergo the process in order to get ration under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.

Urging the wholehearted cooperation of all the stakeholders to make the upcoming procurement season successful, the Minister said that no laxity in this regard shall be tolerated.

Among others present on the occasion included the Principal Secretary Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Rahul Tiwari, Director Varinder Kumar Sharma, Additional Secretary PUNGRAIN Kamal Kumar Garg, MD Punjab State Warehousing Corporation Vineet Kumar, Additional Director Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Dr. Anjuman Bhaskar and GM (Finance) Sarvesh Kumar.