Explained: How Punjab mandis procure more paddy than state produces; the UP-Bihar link -Anju Agnihotri Chaba

-The Indian Express

According to Punjab govt officials, a large amount of paddy from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is illegally brought to the state, to be sold at the higher price it would fetch in the mandis here.

Jalandhar: For the past few years, mandis in Punjab have been procuring at Minimum Support Price (MSP) more paddy (non-Basmati) than the state produces. This is because a large amount of paddy from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is illegally brought to Punjab, to be sold at the higher price it would fetch in the mandis here.

Several cases have been registered in the recent past, including during the current procurement season, against this practice. The government’s action generally ends at confiscating some trucks, carrying a few thousand tonnes of paddy, and registering some cases.

The illegal trade, however, is of far more than a few thousand tonnes of paddy. If the total production and total purchase of paddy in Punjab in the past three years are taken into account, the figure of illegally sold paddy arrived at is in millions of tonnes. How? The Indian Express explains.

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