Khargone/Shajapur, Apr 30 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday made a surprise visit to the wheat procurement centre in Katargaon in Khargone district and reviewed arrangements while interacting with farmers.
The CM had said a day earlier that he would make such visits, an official informed.
"He made a surprise visit to the procurement centre in Katargaon this morning after spending night in Maheshwar town on the banks of river Narmada. During the visit, he reviewed the procurement arrangements. He discussed with farmers and also had tea with them. He provided necessary instructions to those associated with the centre," the official said.
Farmers can now sell their produce at any procurement centre in the district, and furthermore, to ensure they don't have to wait for their wheat to be weighed, the number of weighing scales at procurement centres has been increased to six, he added.
Gunny bags, weighing scales, porters, sewing machines, computers, internet connections, coupons, quality testing equipment, fans, sieves, and other facilities are being made available at procurement centres, the official said.
"The government has also increased the limit for dull wheat to 50 per cent. The limit for shrivelled grains has been increased from 6 per cent to 10 per cent. The limit for damaged grains procured from farmers has also been increased to 6 per cent. To date, 9.83 lakh farmers have booked slots for the sale of 60.84 lakh metric tonnes of wheat at support price in the state," he said.
So far, 22.70 lakh metric tonnes of wheat have been procured from over 5.8 lakh farmers in the state. Last year, 77 lakh metric tons of wheat were procured at the support price, the official said.
This year, despite the adverse conditions of (West Asia) war, the government has set a target of procuring 100 lakh metric tonnes of wheat in the interest of farmers, the official added.
Yadav also made a surprise inspection of the wheat procurement centre in Makodi village in Shajapur district, he said.
Later, talking to reporters on assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry, CM Yadav said exit polls are a mirror for the Congress, which is slowly disappearing from the country and is now in a sinking state.