DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday thanked farmers, 'arthiyas', labourers and all government agencies for successful procurement of 128 lakh metric tonne of wheat amid the coronavirus crisis. A 45-day-long wheat procurement operations ended on Sunday. Due to elaborate arrangements in mandis and operational management of the staggered arrival of wheat, COVID-19 failed to put a spoke in the gigantic wheat procurement process during the just-concluded Rabi Marketing Season, he said in a statement here. The patience and discipline, along with the adherence of all involved in the operation to strict health and safety measures put in place for harvesting, procurement and storage of wheat, have ensured zero COVID cases in the entire process, noted the CM. Singh also appreciated Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu's effort in "successfully accomplishing the massive task of wheat procurement". To facilitate the pre-harvesting necessities during lockdown, the Department of Agriculture had successfully coordinated the tracking, screening and supervision of all "combine operators" entering Punjab borders, till the completion of the harvesting operation, Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Viswajeet Khanna said. A Medical check-up of such "combine operators" was ensured before the start of work, and sanitization of the combine harvesting machines and straw reapers was ensured by the department, apart from enforcing social distancing, face masking and hand washing measures, he said. The official added that the number of mandis was increased from last year's 1,837 to 4,000, besides issuing 17.39 lakh online passes to farmers through 'arthiyas' to regulate arrival of their produce. (editor@dailyworld.in)