Chandigarh, April 11 (IANS) As the wheat arrivals surge across agrarian state Punjab, the total purchase of wheat has created a record in five years, officials said on Monday.
Government agencies have procured 4.3 lakh metric tons of wheat till April 10, against the earlier highest peak of 38,019 metric tons in 2018.
An official told IANS this year the government has ensured that minimum support price (MSP) payments of Rs 138 crore transferred directly into bank accounts of farmers, whereas the earlier high was Rs 6.5 crore in year 2017.
Terming the record-breaking figures a result of the good arrangements, he said the state government was committed to welfare of the farmers and would continue to take all possible steps to facilitate them.
The Central government has fixed the minimum support price of wheat at Rs 2,015 per quintal.
The government aims to purchase 132 lakh tonnes of wheat this season. The procurement of wheat, which began on April 1, will continue till May 31.
Manpreet Singh Chadha, the Vice-Chairman of the Wave Group, has been arrested in connection to a Rs 100 crore fraud case, a police officer said here on Thursday.
The three-time Bathinda Member of Parliament thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for fulfilling the promise made to the Sikh community by initiating the process of refunding the Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on religious institutions.
India's decision to build its own space station is the next logical step after its human space mission Gaganyaan, former chiefs of Indian space agency said on Thursday.
There'll be no need for ashtrays in one Alberta town on the weekend if residents take up a retiring pharmacist's call for all smokers to butt out for 24 hours.
The Chief Minister was reacting to legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira's allegations that canals in the state would go dry as the Punjab government was releasing water to Pakistan.
