CHANDIGARH: Coming down heavily on illicit inter-state paddy transportation, Punjab Government-led by Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann has initiated a stringent action with the registration of an FIR at Kotkapura police station in Faridkot district, informed S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Punjab.
S. Khudian said that the FIR No. 0184, has been registered on the complaint of the local MARKFED Branch Manager under sections 318(4) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 against a owner of two Rice Mills situated at village Hari Nau of Kotkapura, and five others from Rajasthan. The police has also recovered four tractor-trailers bearing Rajasthan-registration, loaded with illegal paddy.
In response to this incident, S. Khudian, along Punjab Mandi Board Chairman S. Harchand Singh Barsat, today held a crucial meeting with all District Mandi Officers (DMOs) and Chief Agriculture Officers (CAOs) and issued stern directives to them, particularly in border districts, mandating that not a single grain of paddy from outside the state be permitted for sale in Punjab.
Punjab Agriculture Minister said that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government maintains zero-tolerance stance against the sale of out-of-state paddy in Punjab to protect the state's agricultural market and ensure the interests of local farmers are safeguarded against such malpractices.