Chandigarh, Sep 20 (IANS) In view of the impending paddy procurement season commencing from October 1, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday reviewed the arrangements aimed at hassle free and seamless procurement of paddy.
"Every grain produced with the sweat and toil of the Punjabi farmer shall be purchased," he said while chairing a meeting.
Emphasising speedy purchase, the Chief Minister directed that purchase, lifting, and payment should commence from the first day of procurement itself and warned of strict action if any farmer is put to any inconvenience.
Presiding over a meeting of officials of procurement agencies, he directed the state procurement agencies and the FCI to be fully geared up for procurement of paddy in the ensuing season.
He expressed satisfaction that the state had already arranged sufficient 'bardana' for the season well in advance and directed its optimal placement across the state in all mandis.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said the move is aimed at sprucing up the health and education infrastructure of Punjab by replicating the Delhi model in both these core sectors.
After launching the web-portal amidst presence of DIG (Cyber Crime) Nilambari Jagdale and DSP Samarpal Singh, the DGP congratulated the entire team for developing this user-friendly portal, which could be easily accessed by anyone to report cyber frauds.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla noted that the interim status report filed by the Delhi Police shows that the police force failed to prevent miscreants from reaching the residence of the Chief Minister and vandalising the area.
In a record, the Punjab Government said it cleared payments of Rs 13,000 crore of farmers for procurement of wheat till Monday, state Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said. He said this was the highest payment in the past decade.
The victims, both from West Bengal, were rushed to the SMHS hospital in Srinagar, where the condition of one is stated to be critical while the other is stable.
A case in this connection was registered against Ranjit Gogoi, the then Director of Information and Public Relation, Assam, and different private companies, for alleged misappropriation of the state government's money. The ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of CM's Vigilance Cell FIR lodged in 2017 against the accused.
