Says 98pc gunny bags distributed in a transparent way
Staff Reporter
Punjab Senior and Food Minister Abdul Aleem Khan on Wednesday said that the wheat procurement is underway at a brisk pace across the province and so far 76 percent target of wheat procurement has been achieved.
“The Food Department has procured more than 2.6 million metric tonnes of wheat while 98 percent distribution of “bardana” gunny bags to farmers has also been completed,” declared Abdul Aleem Khan while sharing details about wheat procurement with media persons here on Wednesday.
He said that both the Food Department and district administration are providing all possible facilities to the farmers at wheat procurement centres.
He said that as per the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the price of wheat is being paid to the farmers in Punjab at the rate of Rs1,800 per maund this year.
Similarly, efforts are being made to minimize the role of middleman between the farmer and the consumer, he added.
The senior minister said that report is being obtained on daily basis regarding the procurement of wheat from the Food Department and it is being ensured that the Punjab Government to procure wheat on time and achieve the target of 3.5 million metric tons accordingly.
The senior minister said that operations are underway in all cities across Punjab to curb the stockpiling of wheat.
He told that so far raids have been undertaken in different districts and 27,600 bags of wheat in Gujranwala Division, 12,000 from Bahawalpur and 11,500 bags of wheat have been confiscated from Mandi Bahauddin.
He said that legal action is being taken against stockiest by seizing sacks of wheat from Sialkot, Wazirabad, Nowshera Virkan, Kamonke, Mandi Yazman and other cities of Punjab.
Abdul Aleem Khan said that farmers should feel free to sell their wheat at the procurement centres of Punjab as they will get timely compensation for their crop.
He assured that the Government will not allow anyone to store wheat and in this regard, the Food Department and district administration are on high alert round the clock to take strict action without any discrimination.
