Managing Director Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Supplies Corporation (Passco) Major General Sohail Shafqat has assured the growers that wheat procurement drive would continue by the Corporation till the achievement of its target of 1.3 million tons assigned by the Federal government.
This assurance was given by him, while chairing a meeting of the Corporation here on Tuesday convened to review the ongoing wheat procurement drive and figures of the procured grain and gunny bags distributed till date among the growers. General Manager (Field) Colonel Tanvir Hussain (Retd) and other high officials also attended the meeting, says a spokesman of the Corporation.
Major General Sohail Shafqat expressed his satisfaction over the speed of the procurement drive and said that the Corporation till date had bought over 973,367 metric tons of wheat while it had distributed gunny bags for over 1,138,689 metric tons of wheat. He said that it showed that the Corporation had achieved about 75 percent of its procurement target, while 80 percent of the gunny bags distribution target.
According to the Corporation sources, they have so far purchased over 922,706 metric tons of wheat from Punjab, 18,364 metric tons from Sindh and 3,704 metric tons from Balochistan. While it has till date distributed gunny bags for 1,061,442 metric tons wheat in Punjab, over 20,864 metric tons in Sindh and over 8,015 metric tons in Sindh.
He directed the officers of the Corporation to immediately redress any complaint filed by the growers and no slackness would be tolerated by the officials in facilitation of the wheat farmers.
Passco is procuring wheat during the current season from 15 Tehsils of Punjab, 3 Tehsils of Sindh and Balochistan (Jaffarabad & Naseerabad). There are around 180 purchase centres busy in serving in Punjab, 11 in Sindh and 9 purchase centres in Balochistan, the growers from morning to dusk, through out the week without a holiday, the spokesman concluded.