In a big relief for farmers of Punjab, the Union Government has relaxed the Uniform Wheat Specifications, allowing procurement of wheat grains with lustre loss of up to 70 per cent. The relaxed specifications have been announced amidst farmer unrest in the state after their grains were not being purchased because they did not meet the quality standards set by the Food Corporation of India.Farmers in Punjab have been protesting since procurement officials refused to buy their grains on account of poor quality, caused by unseasonal rains in the end of March and early April, and the unusually high temperature in the end of February, which led to the shrivelling of the grains.According to the relaxation announced today by Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Pralhad Joshi, the limit of shrivelled and broken grains has been increased from 6 per cent to 15 per cent for Punjab and Chandigarh. It has also been specified that the damaged and slightly damaged grains will not exceed more than 15 per cent of the total grains.Senior Punjab BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu said that the Centre had always acknowledged the role of Punjab farmers and stood by them. “The state government unnecessarily played politics over the issue,” he said, adding that as soon as the state government approached the Centre seeking relaxations, the central teams were immediately dispatched to collect samples and send their reports.The Centre has said that the wheat procured under relaxed specifications will be stored and accounted for separately and any deterioration in the quality of wheat stocks will be the responsibility of the state. These wheat stocks will be liquidated on priority, though financial implications due to this relaxation will be the responsibility of the state government.