Pb Cabinet to GoI: Relax rules for wheat procurement

Chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday urged the Government of India (GOI) to relax the specifications for wheat for procurement in the current season, in view of the crop losses suffered by farmers due to

unseasonal rains.

A decision to this effect was taken by the council of ministers in a meeting chaired by the chief minister at his office in the Punjab Civil Secretariat-I on Monday.

During the meeting, the Cabinet requested the Centre to order appropriate relaxation in specifications without any value cut, which will compound the problems of the farmers who had already suffered significant crop losses due to the rains and winds that lashed in the state.

Such rains at the time of maturation of wheat crop have caused considerable damage to the standing crop and also affected the quality

of the wheat grains because of water logging, leading to

loss of luster and blackened grains.

The Punjab Cabinet further observed that the share of Centre in compensation given per acre to the farmers for compensating their loss due to

the natural disaster was on lower side, in the wake of the exorbitant hike in the prices of agriculture inputs borne by the farmers to raise the crop.