Chandigarh, August 25, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Punjab Government has assured rice millers of full support ahead of the upcoming paddy procurement season, with a Group of Ministers (GoM) reviewing concerns of the rice industry and measures to ensure adequate storage capacity across the state.
The GoM, comprising Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak and Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal, met representatives of the state's rice milling industry on Monday.
The ministers said the government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, was according top priority to ensuring sufficient storage space in mandis before the procurement season begins.
The GoM also urged the Union Government to expedite the lifting of rice from Punjab to create additional storage capacity for the incoming paddy.
Describing the rice industry, along with farmers, arhtiyas and labourers, as a backbone of Punjab's economic structure, the ministers said their welfare remained a key priority for the state government.
The GoM said several measures were being considered to address the concerns of millers. Under one proposed measure, District Food Supply Controllers (DFSCs) would not be permitted to recover any amount from millers without approval from the department's head office.
The government also plans to make a provision in the upcoming Custom Milling Policy for transportation payments to be made directly to sheller owners.
The millers' other demands included payment of unloading and grading charges to every miller, extending the deadline for registration of new shellers on the portal to September 30, and allotting paddy for custom milling in the next season to sheller owners who complete 85 per cent milling during the current season.
The GoM assured the representatives that the interests of rice millers would remain central to the government's approach and that paddy allotment for custom milling would be carried out without bias.
Those present at the meeting included Principal Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Rahul Tewari; Director Varinder Kumar Sharma; Additional Managing Director, PUNGRAIN, Kamal Kumar Garg; Additional Directors Dr Anjuman Bhaskar and Ajayveer Singh Sarao; Federation of All India Rice Miller Association President Tarsem Saini; Punjab Rice Industry Association President Bharat Bhushan Binta; Rice Millers Association President Gian Chand Bhardwaj; and New Punjab Rice Millers Association President Balwinder Singh Haruwal.