Acting on the request of the Punjab government to revisit the specifications of shrivelled grains in the wheat being purchased across the state, the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India today decided to constitute five teams to assess the extent of the problem in the state.
While sharing these details a spokesperson of the Punjab Government stated that these teams shall arrive in the state tomorrow and will visit fifteen districts to get a first hand assessment of the extent of shrivelled grain arriving in the Mandis. This data will then help the Government of India in taking a final decision on grant of appropriate relaxation in the specifications, he said.
It may be noted that due to extreme heat conditions the wheat grain has become shrivelled in many places and the grain coming in certain Mandis contains shrivelled grain beyond the permissible limit of 6%.
The spokesperson further added that during the visits of these teams, the ongoing purchase in certain Mandis may be temporarily disrupted and he appealed to the farmers and the functionaries of the procurement agencies to cooperate in this regard.
