Chandigarh, May 3: Cooperation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Wednesday said that the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation (or Markfed) should not have to procure farm produce, such as wheat and paddy most prominently, “as it causes inherent losses”.
“Markfed has the mandate of marketing farm produce, which it is carrying out very well. Sometimes it is asked to even procure sunflower or maize, which disturbs its finances, and we want to draw the federation completely out of procurement,” he said while talking to reporters. “I will take up the matter with the chief minister, to ask the food and civil supplies department to take over the losses of Markfed.” Other than Markfed, five state agencies carry out procurement.
The minister was talking to the media after a presentation by the officials of another state agency, the Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (or Milkfed) which, he announced, will give a big push to Verka branded milk in the national capital, New Delhi.
Speaking on revival of sugar mills in the cooperative sector run under the Punjab State Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills (or Sugarfed), Randhawa said a cabinet sub-committee is working on the issue, and the plan is to turn the mills into ‘sugar complexes’. Each of these will have a distillery, a cogeneration plant, and will produce ethanol to balance out losses incurred in producing sugar alone, he added.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
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