Wheat grain supplies from Punjab cannot be banned: Minister tells Sindh Assembly

The Sindh Food Minister on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of banning wheat grain supplies from Punjab, saying there was no such law that prohibited the transportation of crop productions into the province. Despite intending to stop grain transportations from Punjab, the provincial government was unable to do so, Sindh Food Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah told legislators during a question and answer session of the Sindh Assembly.
"Wheat flour mixed with rice flour is being supplied and we cannot take action against this too," he said, adding that banning grain supplies into Sindh needed legislation. He assured the house that the government would make efforts towards increasing wheat procurement target for the next crop.
He said that the incumbent federal government had reduced the support price of different crops but the PPP had opposed the move. He said the PPP-led coalition government had increased crops support price higher than that of the world markets to encourage growers towards an increased cultivation.
He said that for the current fiscal year, the ADP had earmarked funds for construction of more godowns to store the procured wheat grain. Previously, the government's godowns had the capacity to store 575,000 metric tons of wheat grain and the surplus weighing some 81,760 metric tons would be stockpiled in private storages, Nasir added. The minister rejected the impression that the supplied wheat was inedible, saying that the government had never found inconsumable grain in any district of the province in 2012. The government had borrowed Rs 29.10 billion from banks to procure wheat in 2008-9, he said, adding that loan was used to subsidize the yield on retail level.
Meanwhile, the house adopted the Provincial Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2015 that drew a long discussion during the session before it became a law with a unanimous vote. With the passage of the law, now an insurance company will deal with the compensation funds' dispensation and not the Sindh Bus Owners Cooperative Society.
The law is first to revise compensation rates for passengers' death and injuries since 1978, aiming to equate with the restitution amount that is being made in Punjab to the victims. The legislation is a move to replace the Society with a reputed insurance company. The law was an amendment to the Provincial Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1965.
Scale of compensation payable on death or injury of the passenger in a stage carriage or contract carriage is: Death Rs 250,000, loss of arm at or above elbow Rs 65,000, loss of arm below the elbow Rs 50,000, loss of leg at or above the knee Rs 65,000, loss of leg below the knee Rs 60,000, loss of both legs Rs 140,000, permanent loss of hearing Rs 65,000, loss of one eye Rs 75,000, loss of both eyes Rs 140,000, loss of thumb Rs 40,000, loss of all fingers of one foot Rs 50,000, loss of index finger Rs 40,000, loss of any finger other than index finger Rs 38,000.
Similarly, restitution for permanent disfiguration of face or head is Rs 50,000, fracture of dislocation of a bone Rs 40, 000, emasculation Rs 50,000, loss of one tooth Rs 12,500, loss of two or more teeth Rs 25,000, any life endangering injury that may also cause the victim in 20 days to undergo severe bodily pain or hampers his ordinary pursuits Rs 25,000, any injury not specified above Rs 10,000 and maximum limit of compensation payable for more than one injuries is Rs 14,000.