Direct payment row: Ashu warns of action against those misleading farmers
CHANDIGARH : Punjab food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Thursday warned against any attempt to mislead farmers on the implementation of the public management financial system (PMFS), stressing that the state government will not introduce any amendment in the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act to exclude arhtiyas from the procurement process.
In a press statement, the minister said “canards are being spread by some vested interests” with the backing of their political masters because they are opposed to the pro-farmer and transparent system of payment.
He said such attempts to sabotage the procurement process reflects the frustration of those who could not digest a “continued exemplary procurement” of wheat and paddy crops by the Congress government after coming to power in 2017.
He said any effort to vitiate the food procurement process would not be tolerated and it might attract exemplary punishment under law. Lauding a section of arhtiyas for their decision to adopt the PFMS system, Ashu said due to non-implementation of the system the Centre has withheld ₹1,000 crore in payments to the state government. This includes reimbursement of ₹500 crore already paid to the arhtiyas, he pointed out.
The government will continue to make payments to the farmers through the arhtiyas, he clarified, adding that checks on corrupt practices that prevailed in procurement during the Akali regime benefitted arhtiyas.
He directed the food supplies department to regularly review the progress of grain arrival and lifting at all 1,734 Punjab mandis on a daily basis to ensure not a single farmer waits for produce to be procured.