Chandigarh, November 3: The continuous vigil by our officers has once again foiled the bid to circulate cheaper paddy from Bihar into Punjab mandis; as many as 17 trucks full of nearly 12500 bags of paddy coming late night from Bihar was spotted by Food and Civil supplies officer at a petrol pump in Shambhu, Rajpura, informed Mr. Bharat Bhushan Ashu Food and Civil Supplies Minister Punjab. SP Vigilance was called on the spot, enquiry is on and FIR has been lodged, he added.
It has been brought to my notice that earlier in the day 28 trucks of paddy/rice have come into Punjab through the same barrier. Batting for better coordination between State Mandi Board and Food and Civil Supplies Department, the Minister said,” I will take up the issue with State Mandi Board and write to them that complete details of each truck pertaining to the loading point and off loading destination be entered in the record register at the inter-state barrier by the officials of Mandi board on duty and simultaneously these details should be routed on daily basis to the Food and Civil Supplies Department so that the State Purchase Agencies be updated about the same. This will help to keep a tab on the movement/inflow of rice/paddy in state mills and mandis and plug the illegal circulation of paddy/ rice of other states in Punjab as well as check bogus billing.
It is pertinent to mention that within a month, the Punjab Food and civil supplies department through a series of raids has unearthed nearly 2.5 lakh bags of paddy and 2 lakh bags of previous years rice set to be pumped into Punjab KMS 2018 -19.
