Chandigarh, July 29-
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said that in a path breaking initiative state government has introduced the Kharif Milling Policy 2022-23 with historic improvements aimed at bringing about transparency and equity in the milling operations of paddy.
In a statement issued here, the Chief Minister said that the Milling Policy, which was passed by Cabinet on Thursday, has recognized that recycling of PDS rice from other states is a serious problem and has introduced strict measures to curb this malpractice. He said that for the first time ever the procurement portal has been integrated with the billing portal of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), which will enable the procurement agencies to monitor the consumption of electricity units in a particular Mill and compare it with the quantity of rice claimed to have been milled by the rice sheller. Any discrepancy shall automatically point to an attempt by the Miller to deliver cheap rice purchased from the open market /PDS and will result in blacklisting of the Mill, added Bhagwant Mann.
The Chief Minister further said that the Department has introduced Vehicle Tracking System for all trucks ferrying paddy from the Mandi to the Mill. He said that online gate passes have also been introduced which will ensure that these are issued only once the GPS location and the photograph of the truck has been captured by the Mandi staff. Bhagwant Mann said that the GPS location of the truck operator shall also have to match the GPS location of the Mandi before the gate pass is issued adding that these steps are expected to severely curb the resale of PDS rice coming in from other states.
