Chandigarh, April 27: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday deputed six IAS officers to visit and review the procurement operations at the Mandis and submit detailed reports by April 30.
The officials will visit the Mandis allocated to them in various district on April 28-29 for on-ground assessment of the ongoing Rabi Market Season 2020-21 procurement operations, according to an official spokesperson.
They have been tasked mainly with checking the implementation of the curfew pass system, village-wise arrivals of wheat in the mandis assigned, inspecting the quality of wheat, and adherence to COVID-19 protocol.
MD Punjab State Warehousing Corporation Nilkanth S Avhad has been deputed to oversee the wheat procurement operations in Ropar & SBS Nagar districts, MD MARKFED Varun Roojam (Amritsar & Tarantaran), Director Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Anindita Mitra (SAS Nagar), Secretary Mandi Board Ravi Bhagat (SBS Nagar, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar), MD PUNSUP Rambir (Jalandhar & Kapurthala) and MD PAFC Manjit Brar (Gurdaspur & Pathankot).
All these officers have also been instructed to ensure implementation/adherence to the guidelines already given to the Deputy Commissioners regarding procurement and lifting of wheat within the stipulated time-frame.
Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary Development Viswajeet Khanna said that out of 49.36 LMT of wheat that had so far arrived in various mandis across the state, 47.33 LMT had already been procured, as compared with 41.92 LMT procured of the 46.70 LMT that had arrived in the commensurate period last year.
To manage staggered movement of wheat in view of the health advisory issued by the State Government to prevent the spread of coronavirus, 7.13 lakh passes had been issued so far to the farmers through Arthiyas in 4100 designated purchase centres to avoid crowding and congestion as a preventive measure, he said.
Khanna further said that all the officials/officers deputed for procurement operations had been directed to meticulously follow health protocols, including social distancing, to check the spread of coronavirus at the Mandis. The Guardians of Governance and the police personnel supporting the operations were helping in ensuring proper hygiene, sanitation and safety of all stakeholders.
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