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.
Three West Bengal MLAs, including BJP leader Mukul Roy's son Subhrangshu Roy, and over 50 municipal councillors, most of them from the Trinamool Congress, joined the BJP on Tuesday.
Actor Karan Oberoi, in his petition, claimed he was falsely implicated in the case, and that it was a consensual relationship between him and the woman.
On Sunil Jakhar's own defeat from Gurdaspur, which he cited as his reason for quitting, the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief was not to blame for the loss.
Police in Pune registered a complaint against Dhananjay Kudtarkar, a resident of the Maharashtra city, after a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena officer-bearer flagged the post.
