Millers on strike, heavy rain worries paddy farmers in Punjab
Mohali News: The heavy rain in Punjab have increased the woes of farmers amid the ongoing strike by rice shellers, as the lifting work of paddy crop in Punjab has come to a standstill.
This problem is beginning to become serious. At present, about 3.55 crore bags of paddy are waiting for lifting in the procurement centers of the state. If the issue is not resolved, there will be no space left in the mandis to unload paddy in the coming days.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has reprimanded the sheller owners in the matter of rice with special ingredients and the fulfillment of the conditions of the corporation is not in the hands of the rice mill owners.
Rice shellers in Punjab have been on an indefinite strike since October 10. In the coming days, the harvesting of paddy is going to be expedited, for which the state government will have to make immediate arrangements. If the central government does not budge from the toss over its stubborn attitude, then the state government may have to bear the brunt. In Punjab, 21.56 lakh metric tonnes of crop has arrived in the mandis till yesterday, out of which 20.67 lakh metric tonnes have been procured. Only 35 per cent of the procured crop has been lifted.