Haryana to hike crop storage capacity by 31 lakh MT in 4 years

CHANDIGARH: Steel silos, having a total capacity of over 31 lakh metric tonne (MT), will be built in the next four years for storing crops procured by various agencies, deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala said during the question hour on Tuesday.

He said the state government has decided to build new godowns and steel silos to increase storage capacity, even as procurement agencies in the state already have about 91 lakh MT covered storage capacity.

About 70 to 80 lakh MT wheat and 55 to 65 lakh MT paddy is procured from farmers in Haryana every year.

The minister said during rabi season 2021-22, 85 lakh MT wheat was procured by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other procurement agencies of the state. Out of this stock, about 15 lakh MT wheat has been lifted from the state till July 31.

He said construction work of 16,632 MT capacity godown has been completed in Hisar and the remaining 24,000 MT godown is under process, while godowns with storage capacity of 4.41 lakh MT (HAFED) and 2.4 lakh MT of Haryana State Warehousing Corporation are also under construction.

Dushyant said 45-acre land of agriculture and irrigation department in Rohtak, Kaithal, Hansi, Hisar and Karnal are being transferred to food and supplies department for making godowns which will have a storage capacity of 1.5 lakh MT.

Stadium not feasible in Palwal: Sports minister

Haryana minister of state for sports and youth affairs Sandeep Singh said that the construction of Swarna Jayanti Stadium in Palwal village of Kurukshetra district is not feasible because of a high-tension line in the area.

He said that instead of a stadium, it has been decided to build boundary wall, athletics track, grassy ground or court for handball, volleyball, basketball and kabaddi games, office-cum storerooms and toilets.

Goel bats for uniform DC rates across districts

BJP MLA Aseem Goel pleaded that there should be uniformity in what is called DC rate while employing people on contract basis. The MLA had asked a question if the wages given to the employees on DC rates in Ambala city are equal to the DC rate wages given in other districts of the state. He said there was huge difference in DC rates of all districts. The minister of state for labour and employment Anoop Dhanak said that DC rate wages given in Ambala City are not equal to the DC rate of other districts in the State.