The Balochistan cabinet has decided to procure 500,000 metric tons wheat this year in a bid to ensure the commodity in order to provide relief to the masses and fixed the support price of wheat in Balochistan equal to that of Sindh. In the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Sarfraz Bugti here Saturday, the cabinet has agreed to change the method of procurement of wheat and order to purchase customized modern eco-friendly bags for wheat.
The cabinet has decided to stop the purchase of bardrana (begs) at the government level from next year and instructed the Food Department that to pay the amount of bardrana to the farmers instead of purchasing it at government level, which will able the farmers to buy bags from the local market. In the meeting, Secretary Food Saleh Baloch while giving a briefing, said that currently 58,000 bardranas are available with the Food Department while a tender has been issued to purchase more.
The cabinet also directed the Food Department to cancel the tender and purchase standard bags available in the market, preventing it from procuring more traditional begs for wheat. The provincial cabinet approved the fixing of wheat price which is equal to the price fixed by Sindh government to stop smuggling of wheat from Balochistan to Sindh due to price instability.
The Balochistan Chief Minister also approved the establishment of a monitoring committee consisting of members of the assembly to ensure transparency in wheat procurement, which will also include officers nominated by the chief secretary. The committee will examine the transparency and lack of deficiencies in the wheat procurement process across the province.—APP
