‘Take away crop procurement duties from Markfed’

CHANDIGARH :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.

Markfed has duty mandate of marketing farm produce, which it is carrying out very well. Procurement disturbs its finances; we want to draw it completely out of that. SUKHJINDER SINGH RANDHAWA, cooperation minister

‘MERGER WILL MAKE CO-OP BANK STRONGER’

Further, he said the department plans to merge state and district cooperative banks, “to make these banks a bigger and stronger entity”. He said that of the 22 district cooperative banks, 13 are making losses. “There is huge scope in the cooperative sector; 3,537 village cooperative societies that function under the patronage of these banks have a turnover of Rs 15,000 crore, and total turnover of the entire cooperative set-up in state is Rs 3.3 lakh crore.”

LOANS DUE FROM POLITICIANS

Randhawa also mentioned that Dyal Singh Kolianwali, a close aide of former CM Parkash Singh Badal, owes “more than Rs 1 crore” to an agriculture land development bank. “The loan is six years old and he had never paid back a single penny.” Also taking the name of Congress leader Raman Bhalla, the minister said there are a 25 politicians who owe the bank Rs 12 crore. “We are starting recovery proceedings against all of them,” he said. Kolianwali and Bhalla could not immediately be contacted for comment.