Chandigarh, Oct 29 (IANS): Nayab Singh Saini government in Haryana has directed the authorities to ensure timely procurement of paddy and millet crops from farmers and also disburse the amount in their accounts, without any delay.

The prompt action from the state administration has resulted in disbursal of about Rs 9,439 crore, directly into the bank accounts of paddy and millet farmers. This includes Rs 8,545 crore for paddy and Rs 894 crore for millet.

Sharing information on the same, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department said that 46,62,244 metric tonnes (MT) of paddy have arrived in various mandis so far. Out of the total arrival, 44,59,364 metric tonnes of paddy have been procured by the agencies on MSP. Continuous lifting of paddy from the mandis is also being ensured. At the same time, 4,38,516 metric tonnes of millet have arrived in various mandis. 4,27,364 metric tonnes of millet have been procured on MSP, which is about 98 per cent of the total arrival.

The government has fixed a minimum support price of Rs 2,300 per quintal for normal paddy and Rs 2,320 per quintal for grade-A paddy.

Kurukshetra, Karnal and Kaithal have secured the highest procurement of 9,57,007, 8,05,360 and 7,79,382 metric tonnes of paddy, respectively. The highest lifting of paddy in these three mandis so far is 8,83,705, 7,15,380 and 7,46,714 metric tonnes, respectively.

The department has also extended online gate pass facility to farmers for removing any inconvenience at the mandis and facilitate seamless trading at the mandis.

Out of 5,32,418 metric tonnes of arrival in Ambala district, 4,98,584 metric tonnes of paddy have been purchased. Out of 5,26,388 metric tonnes in the mandis of Yamunanagar district, 5,01,041 metric tonnes and out of 4,95,771 metric tonnes in Fatehabad district, 4,51,311 metric tonens of paddy have been purchased. Apart from this, 1,65,950 metric tonnes out of 1,79,879 metric tonnes have been procured in Jind district, 1,30,206 metric tonnes out of 1,56,291 metric tonnes in Sirsa district and 73,146 metric tonnes out of 83,855 metric tonnes in Panchkula district.

About 1,08,380 metric tonnes of millet have arrived in mandis of Mahendragarh district, out of which 1,07,446 metric tonnes have been purchased. Similarly, 95,934 metric tonnes of millet have arrived in various mandis of Rewari district, out of which 95,009 metric tonnes have been purchased. About 98 per cent of the total arrival of millets has been purchased in the mandis of the state.