Chandigarh, April 13 -- The staff of Punjab's four procurement agencies on Sunday halted the wheat procurement, alleging political pressure "to purchase the freshly harvested crop which has high moisture content, ignoring the quality standards".

"The coordination committee (of all procurement agencies in Punjab) has decided to suspend procurement operations," said the spokesperson of the joint coordination committee.

The coordination committee has members from agencies, including the Punjab state warehousing corporation, Markfed employees' union, and Punsup, the government agencies that are primarily responsible for purchasing the produce.

The procurement season started from April 1, and in 12 days, 1 lakh tonnes produce has arrived. T...