Farmers call off ‘rail roko’ after Centre eases wheat-buying norms

Bathinda: Farm groups called off their proposed rail blockade protest on Friday after the Union consumer affairs, food and public distribution ministry relaxed parameters for wheat procurement.A similar relaxation had earlier been extended in neighbouring Haryana. The move, farmers hope, will now pave way for faster procurement of wheat.The relaxations had been provided in Rajasthan on April 9 and Haryana on April 14. Punjab farmers were on the warpath against no relaxation in norms for procurement of the wheat crop, due to which little quantity of wheat was procured till April 15, and it was on April 16 that procurement picked up when it came to the fore that Union govt had assured relaxations to Punjab on a par with Haryana.Farm forum Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarvan Singh Pandher, SKM leader Manjit Singh Dhaner and Azad Kisan Morcha leader Sukh Gill said in a joint statement: "As per relaxations, we suspended the proposed rail roko protest and will wait for three days to see whether the purchase picks up and the govts erase the problems being faced by the farmers in the markets and during this time we will continue to ask questions to govt functionaries and any further decision will be taken after watching the situation for three days."As per the relaxations, the limit of lustre loss has been relaxed up to 70%, the limit of shrivelled and broken grain has been relaxed up to 15% against the existing limit of 6% under uniform specification. Both damaged and slightly damaged grain altogether has been relaxed up to 6%.Union consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister Pralhad Joshi in a social media post on Friday mentioned that the request for relaxation in wheat procurement due to untimely rainfall was received on April 9. Promptly thereafter, teams were deputed on April 10 to assess the situation across all districts. Based on field inputs, the central govt has approved relaxations for wheat procurement under RMS 2026-27 in all districts of Punjab and Chandigarh. This decision will help reduce hardships for farmers and prevent any distress sale of wheat. The relaxations will be applicable from the commencement of RMS 2026-27.Earlier, the DGM (quality control), Food Corporation of India (FCI), had written to chief general manager (QC) and general manager (QC) on April 16 and observed that as per the detailed analysis of the samples, it is observed that certain quality parameters are exceeding the prescribed limits under uniform specifications of wheat during rabi marketing season 2026-27. In view of the prevailing conditions, it is requested that relaxation in uniform specification may be considered as shrivelled and broken grains up to 20% may be allowed without value cut, lustre loss relaxation up to 80% may be allowed and damaged and slightly damaged grain relaxation up to 6%.