KHARAR, Sept 17: The district administration has set up 30 centres for the purchase of paddy in the whole of Roopnagar district, where government as well as private agencies have started purchasing paddy since Monday.Disclosing this, Roopnagar Deputy Commissioner Kulbir Singh Sidhu said, out of 30 purchase centres, 15 are situated at the old focal points, while six are at new focal points. The government agencies engaged in the purchase of paddy include Food and Supplies Department, Markfed, Punsup, Warehousing Corporation and FCI.He said that over 2,000 quintal paddy has arrived at the Chamkaur Sahib grain market so far, which had been purchased by private agencies at the rate of Rs 471 per quintal. The minimum support price of paddy has been fixed at Rs 440 and Rs. 470 per quintal, he added, and informed that a total of 1,53,000 metric tonnes of paddy was expected to arrive in the district this year as compared to 1,33,000 metric tonnes of paddy, last year.Meanwhile, Kharar SDM Avtar Chand Sharma has held separate meetings with farmers and representatives of government and private agencies at the grain markets of Kharar, Kurali and Majri, which fall under this sub-division, to review the arrangements made for paddy procurement. He said that the repair work of all the link roads leading to the grain markets in this sub-division has been undertaken, which would be completed by October 2. He asked the purchase agencies to undertake their business with honesty and to keep the interests of the farmers in mind.PLAY FROM SEPT 20: Food and Supplies Minister Madan Mohan Mittal will inaugurate the play, "Sampuran Ramayana", being organised by Sri Ram Leela Dramatic Club, Kharar, at the Mahavira Chowk, near the police station, here on September 20. Chairman of the club, Tara Chand Gupta, informed that the play will be staged from September 20 to October 2, for which preparations were going on at a hectic pace.Office bearers elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Dushera Committee, Kharar. Rajinder Aggarwal, patron; Roop Lal Aggarwal, chairman; Jaipal Gupta, vice-chairman; Kamlesh Sharma, president; Banke Behari, vice-president; Devender Gupta, secretary; Subhash Aggarwal, general secretary and Neeraj Kumar Gupta, cashier.
