Keeping in view the problems being faced by the farmers in getting gunny bags from the government procurement centres, the provincial government has decided to buy the wheat brought to the procurement centres by the farmers, in their own jute bags.
The Punjab Food Department Minister Malik Nadeem Kamran said that the government has taken this decision to remove the unrest being found amongst the growers due to non-availability of jute bags in sufficient numbers at government procurement centres and to ensure that they should get Rs 950 per maund of their produce.
While chairing a high-level meeting here on Saturday, the minister said that directives had been issued to the staff posted at all the procurement centres that they should buy the wheat brought by the farmers in their own jute bags. He said that the staff had also been directed to distribute all the available jute bags on the procurement centres amongst the growers.
Malik Nadeem Kamran also warned that no discrimination should be observed in distribution of gunny bags and farmers should be served on first come-first served basis. He also warned that those observing strike on action taken against those found involved in corruption should also be dealt with an iron hand. He said that wheat procurement was a national issue and no compromise would be made on it.
He also disclosed that the Punjab food department had procured 1,041,568 metric tons of wheat till date while it had distributed over 18.6 million gunny bags amongst the growers.
Giving break up of the wheat procurement, he said that from Rawalpindi division the department had procured 1,056 metric tons, 54,516 metric tons from Gujranwala division, 111,021 metric tons from Lahore, 67,713 metric tons from Faisalabad, 34,423 metric tons from Sargodha, 300,195 metric tons from Multan, 193,089 metric tons from Dera Ghazi Khan and 279,557 metric tons from Bahawalpur division.