Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma, visiting Khanna Mandi to review the ongoing procurement of wheat on Friday, directed all the procurement agencies to ensure that farmers do not face any problems in the mandis.   Verma, at the same time, said that during the current season, 132 Lakh Metric Tonnes of wheat is expected to arrive in the mandis of the State. Out of this, till Thursday evening, 66.8 lakh metric tonnes of wheat had arrived in the mandis i.e. about half the expected crop has arrived in the Mandis. Out of this, 91 percent of the crop i.e. 60.9 lakh metric tonnes has already been purchased.   All efforts are being made that crop is cleaned, purchased and weighed within 24 hours of its arrival in the mandi. Once this is done, the farmer is free to leave the mandi. Payment will be credited into his account within 48 hours of purchase and he will get an SMS in this regard, he said.   Chief Secretary also interacted with the farmers. Sukhdeep Singh from Bhamaddi village said that he had brought his crop to the mandi at 7 am and it was purchased at 12:30 pm. Similarly, Narinder Singh from Hussainpur village said that he had brought his crop to the mandi at 7:30 am today, and it was purchased at 12:40 pm.   Verma further said that due to delay in harvesting, the arrivals in the mandis were initially slow and have peaked suddenly, but the entire State machinery is working day and night to ensure that the farmers do not face any problem in the mandis. Last year, peak lifting in a single day was 4.8 lakh metric tonnes. Yesterday, lifting crossed this limit and was 5.5 lakh metric tonnes, said Verma, adding that he was reviewing the progress with Deputy Commissioners via Video Conference every alternate day.   At the same time, the Chief Secretary directed all the Deputy Commissioners to visit the mandis daily and ensure that this lifting is increased to 6.5 Lakh Metric Tonnes per day.   Verma said that the government is committed to ensure that the crop of the farmers will be purchased immediately in the Mandis and they will be paid within 48 hours. If any farmer faces any problem regarding purchase or payment, he may report on the Governments toll free number 1100. Immediate action will be taken on the information given by the farmer.

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