Why Punjab's wheat procurement process is in doldrums this time
The ongoing wheat procurement in Punjab has been chaotic, exposing Capt Amarinder government to an unprecedented situation at a time when assembly polls are less than a year away. The government is on the back foot, finding it tough to defend its position. All this gives room to the opposition parties —SAD and AAP — to win political brownie points over the Congress. HT takes a 360-degree look to find out why wheat procurement is tardy this time.
1 Farmers not adhering to token system
As against expectations of the mandi board for 40 lakh tonne wheat arrival in the mandis by April 20, in proportion to 9.87 lakh passes issued to the farmers, the arrivals actually touched 59 lakh tonne, leading to a glut. “The farmers are not going by the turn system, they are trying to push their way as if they have pressed a panic button and are unloading their produce in mandis,” said a senior officer of state food and civil supplies department. Last two procurements were smooth because mandi board was able to successfully execute the token system, which flopped this time. 130 lakh tonne wheat is expected to be procured this season.
2 Shortage of gunny bags
State’s food and civil supplies is facing acute shortage of gunny bags. Roughly 5.42 lakh bales (each bale has 500 bags) are required this time and there is a shortage of 68,000 bales (3.4 crore bags). The shortage is delaying lifting, hence contributing to the glut. After nod from the Centre, the state department has allowed use of one-time used bags at a cost of ₹41.9 per bag. The arhtiyas and owners of rice shelling mills are offering one-time used bags for procurement. “The entire operation of collecting these bags and distributing them in the mandis takes time for which everyone needs to have patience,” said a food department officer.
3 Arhtiyas not cooperating
For the first time in 65 years since assured procurement began, the role of arhtiyas was restricted for the first time in the current procurement season. The Centre mandated direct benefit transfer (DBT) of minimum support price directly in farmers’ bank accounts bypassing the arhtiyas. Though state government made some changes in the PFMS system used in making payments to farmers, but they have no control over the payment part. “Previously they used to perform some functions on their own, such as arrangements of gunny bags in case of shortage and making payment to the farmers in case of delay from the Centre. But they are not coming forward this time,” said a mandi board officer. “We are down morally, but we are cooperating,” said VK Kalra, president of arhtiyas’ association.
4 Labour shortage
Due to pandemic, there is shortage of labour. The entire logistics in the procurement process such as cleaning of grain, weighing, filing, stitching and transportation is done by labour and the shortage has slowed down the entire process. “The harvest is highly mechanised as 17,500 harvest machines are put to use in 12,500 villages across state and it takes only a week to 10 days. But procurement and lifting can’t be done at the same pace, leading to pile-up in mandis,” said director food and civil supplies Ravi Bhagat.
5 Arrivals peaked in a week March being comparatively warmer this year, wheat grain matured early leading to fast-paced harvesting even as procurement was delayed by 10 days this time. “We touched peak arrivals within nine days with 10 lakh tone of produce reaching the mandis. Now, it has come down as weather conditions have changed,” Bhagat added.