Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla led a high-level meeting at the Kota Circuit House to tackle issues in wheat procurement at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and address farmers’ concerns. Birla stressed the need to enhance the procurement system to ensure no farmer encounters difficulties. He emphasized procuring 100% of farmers’ wheat at MSP, especially considering recent crop damage from rains and hailstorms.
Birla instructed officials to visit agricultural markets, engage directly with farmers, and swiftly resolve any problems to prevent financial losses. Discussions have already begun with the Government of India to relax grain quality norms, with anticipated orders within three days. To streamline procurement further, Birla mandated doubling procurement allocation and maximizing the operation of all procurement centers from Monday.
Regarding logistics and storage, Birla highlighted the importance of ample gunny bags in the Kota-Bundi region and expedited the tender process for additional bags to ensure availability within a week. He also directed continuous operation of warehouses and godowns, along with arranging sufficient railway rakes for smooth wheat transportation. Birla urged prompt resolution of issues related to MSP procurement discrepancies and rejection of wheat consignments sent to Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses by Rajfed.
To address operational hurdles, Birla issued directives to resolve slot booking and biometric authentication issues, ensuring all farmers receive procurement slots by Monday. He also called for a control room at Bhamashah Mandi for quick grievance redressal and advocated for simplifying mandi operations to maximize produce procurement.
