Acceding to farmers’ demand, the Centre on Saturday decided to begin paddy procurement in Punjab and Haryana on Sunday, two days after it said the process will be delayed this year.

The announcement came after a meeting between the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The Centre’s earlier decision to put off procurement till October 11 due to recent heavy rain sparked protests by farmers in the two States. The situation became tense in a few places in Haryana and Punjab after their clashes with police.

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had taken up the issue during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

In its order on Saturday, the Ministry said “in the interest of the farmers, it has been decided to start procurement of paddy from October 3 in the State of Haryana and Punjab”.

Expressing gratitude to Modi for agreeing to his “personal request” Punjab Chief Minister Channi said the decision will help in ensuring smooth and hassle free procurement of paddy to the satisfaction of the farmers.

“On Channi’s request, the Centre allows Punjab to start paddy procurement from October 3. The Chief Minister thanks Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his personal indulgence to resolve this issue expeditiously,” the Punjab CMO tweeted.

The procurement of Kharif crops - paddy and millet- was earlier to start from October 1, but due to heavy rains, the Central Government had postponed the procurement till October 11 as the moisture content in fresh arrivals was beyond permissible limits.

The decision has irked farmers and many of them protested on Saturday in several parts of the two states, laying siege to the houses of many Ministers, MPs and MLAs.