With Punjab staring at a major challenge in the procurement of paddy amid a severe shortage of storage space, the Council of Ministers headed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Friday approved the Custom Milling Policy for the 2026-27 paddy season, allowing rice millers to receive fresh paddy even if they have not completed delivery of rice from the previous crop.Under the new policy, millers who have delivered up to 90 per cent of the rice from the paddy allotted to them in 2025-26 will be eligible to receive fresh paddy for milling. The concession is aimed at ensuring that milling operations are not disrupted when procurement of the new crop begins later this month.Punjab has been assigned a target to procure around 180 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy during the forthcoming procurement season, out of the total paddy production of 185 LMT. However, the state is already facing an acute storage crisis, with all available covered and plinth storage capacity occupied by grain from previous years.Official sources in the Food and Civil Supplies Department told The Tribune that the state’s entire 280 LMT foodgrain storage capacity is full. The slow lifting of rice by the Union Government from Punjab for movement to other consuming states has further aggravated the problem, leaving little space for the rice that will be generated from the upcoming paddy crop.The government’s difficulty is particularly acute because, while rice millers are ready to deliver milled rice, state agencies are unable to accept fresh deliveries as their godowns and plinth storage facilities are already operating at full capacity.Normally, millers are required to complete the delivery of rice by March 31 following the procurement season. However, the deadline for delivery of rice from the previous season has already been extended till October 31 this year, reflecting the extent of the storage bottleneck.The Cabinet’s decision to relax the eligibility conditions for the allotment of fresh paddy is aimed at preventing the storage crisis from disrupting the procurement and milling cycle. The move assumes added significance as the state heads towards the 2027 Assembly elections, with the government keen to ensure a hassle-free procurement season for farmers.Mann had recently met Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi and urged him to expedite the lifting of rice from Punjab’s granaries to create storage space ahead of the new procurement season. The Centre had assured that 18 LMT of rice would be lifted by September 20, which the state government says has not been done.Besides the Custom Milling Policy, the Cabinet also approved the Punjab Foodgrain Transport Policy, 2026, and the Punjab Foodgrain Labour and Cartage Policy, 2026, with the stated objective of ensuring smooth and uninterrupted procurement operations.Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the three policies had been approved to facilitate the procurement and movement of foodgrain during the coming season. “The Cabinet also gave its nod to filling 251 vacant posts in the Health Department at district-level healthcare facilities in Dhuri (CM Mann’s constituency), Malerkotla and Chamkaur Sahib,” he added.