Badal for extending wheat procurement upto June 30

Chandigarh, May 15 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the Union Government to extend the date of wheat procurement from May 31 to June 30 next.

Mr Badal wrote a letter to the Government of India, pointing out that wheat arrival in the 'Mandis' of Punjab had been late this year due to late maturity of wheat crop and also because of manual harvesting. He said that since wheat was still arriving in the Mandis, it would be appropriate to extend the date of procurement of wheat from the earlier date of May 31 to June 30, 2007, according to Chief Minister's Media Advisor Mr Harcharan Bains.

The Chief Minister requested that instructions in this regard may be issued to the procurement agencies.

UNI