Punjab Asks Centre To Defer Direct Bank Transfer Scheme For Farmers

The Punjab chief minister has made the intervention in the wake of Punjab's arhtiyas association threatening to stop the procurement of wheat from next month as a mark of protest against the Centre's scheme of direct transfer of MSP to farmers' account.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has opposed the Centre's scheme to make a direct online payment of the MSP to farmers' bank accounts, bypassing arhtiyas (commission agents), for the crops to be procured by the government from the next Rabi season. Opposing the Centre's Direct Bank Transfer scheme for farmers, Chief Minister Singh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to ask the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to defer the implementation of the scheme for at least a year. Mr Singh said he has written a letter to the Prime Minister seeking early resolution of the matter in view of the upcoming Rabi season. He said he has also sought time from Prime Minister Modi for a meeting on the issue, the Punjab government said in an official statement.