Centre Firm On Direct Money Transfer To Farmers In Punjab, Rejects State Govt's Demand To Route MSP Payment Through Arhtiyas

In a positive development, the decks have been cleared for Punjab's farmers to get direct payment in their bank accounts against the procurement of wheat from this season onwards as the Centre has rejected Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh led state government's demand that the said payments continue to be made through arhatiyas, reports Economic Times.

A delegation of Ministers from the Punjab Government led by the State's Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu met with Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal to raise the demand, which however was not accepted by the latter.

Following the rejection of the demand, Ashu was quoted as saying, "We have no option now."

He also added that the state government will find some mechanism to protect the interest of arhatiyas, emphasising that they are an integral part of the procurement exercise. He also added that CM Singh is concerned about the issue and that he had called a meeting with the arhatiyas to discuss options.

It should be noted that in the present system, the arhatiya receives the payment on behalf of the farmers, who then get the money from the arhatiyas after the deduction of commission against the services provided by them.