Express News Service
LUCKNOW: In a bid to allay farmers’ fears over the new farm laws, the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday announced that it will procure their wheat on hiked MSP till their stocks end.
The wheat procurement by government agencies would commence on April 1 and would continue till June 15. The registration process for the framers interested in selling their crop opened on March 1 and so far, over 30,000 farmers have got themselves registered, a government spokesman said.
In its new Wheat Procurement Policy, the government said it had hiked the MSP for wheat by Rs 50. It is now Rs 1975 per quintal for 2021-22 against Rs 1925 per quintal last year.
Under the new policy, the state government has fixed no target for wheat procurement. It will continue wheat purchasing on increased MSP till farmers have the stocks to clear their doubts regarding MSP.
“Farmers are welcome to sell as much wheat as they want on MSP between April 1 and June 15,” said the spokesman.
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He added that about 6,000 procurement centres would be set up across 75 districts of the state. An app was also being developed to make the information about procurement centres available to farmers, he further said.
The spokesman said that efforts would be made to keep the procurement process free from the middlemen. “For this purpose, the government has made registration mandatory for farmers on the portal of the food and civil supplies department. Those who are already registered need not apply again,” he added.
The revenue department will verify farmers who are willing to sell more than 100 quintals of wheat on MSP to the government. For the first time, entire wheat purchasing will be done through e-Pos machines after taking thumb impressions and providing receipts to farmers to keep middlemen out.
The state government has already begun a training session for employees being engaged in wheat procurement to make them aware of the new procurement policy and handling e-POS machines, portal, and tabulation works. The training will end by March 20.
