CHANDIGARH, MAY 4
During the Rabi marketing season 2016-17, the Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation (HAFED) has so far procured 24.36 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of wheat against a total procurement of 65.65 lakh MT, which is the largest quantity procured by any government agency during this season.
While interacting with media persons after reviewing the status of procurement of wheat with the HAFED officers at Panchkula near here today, Chairman, HAFED, Mr. Harvinder Kalyan, said that HAFED had the largest share of procurement among the agencies, by procuring 37 per cent of wheat in the State. This is higher than the 33 per cent share allocated to HAFED by the State Government.
Expressing his satisfaction, Mr. Kalyan congratulated the HAFED team for effectively handling such a large procurement and appreciated the efforts that the team had put in to procure more than the given target.
He said that he other agencies, namely, Food and Supplies Department, Food Corporation of India, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation and Haryana State Warehousing Corporation have procured 26 per cent, 11 per cent, 9 per cent and 17 per cent wheat, respectively.
He said that this year, the harvesting and therefore the arrival of wheat in the mandis had started early in the State and the procurement was almost over, except for scanty arrivals in a few districts. There are are likely to continue till May 15, 2016, the official date by which the current procurement season will close. The state procuring agencies have coped well with the sudden arrival and the lifting of the wheat from the mandis has also been carried out in a speedy manner, despite huge arrivals in the mandis this year, he added.
Mr. Kalyan said that HAFED had already lifted 94 per cent of the total wheat procured till May 3, 2016 and had so far released a payment of over Rs 3,600 crore to the farmers. About 10.40 lakh MT procured by HAFED, which is about 40 per cent of its procurement, have already been delivered to the Food Corporation of India and the remaining stocks have been or were being stored safely by HAFED in godowns and storage complexes.
He said that HAFED, being a cooperative federation, undertakes procurement through its member cooperative marketing societies. The farmers who decide to sell their wheat at the shops of the cooperative marketing societies located in various mandis in the State are also paid by the societies an amount equivalent to 1 per cent to 1.25 per cent of the ‘kaccha arhat’ over and above the Minimum Support Price fixed by the Government of India. HAFED had displayed banners in each mandi with appeal to the farmers to sell their produce at the shops of the societies to benefit from this scheme. HAFED had also displayed through these banners a helpline number available in each district office of HAFED, on which the farmers and other stakeholders could register their grievances so that these could be addressed immediately. This was a new initiative which was appreciated by the farmers, he added.
Mr. Kalyan expressed his satisfaction over the timely arrangements made by HAFED for procurement, lifting, storage of wheat and release of payments, besides carrying out this huge operation efficiently and effectively in the best interests of the farmers of the State despite the advancement and shrinkage of the procurement period.
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