KARACHI: After thorough deliberations and discussion, the Sindh Cabinet has decided to set a wheat procurement target for crop 2022-23 at 1.4 MMT at Rs4000 per 40 kg.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah here at CM House on Thursday and was attended by provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman P&D Hassan Naqvi, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi and other concerned officers.
Minister Food Mukesh Chawla briefing the cabinet said that four million tons of wheat had been grown that year which was a good crop even though the land was damaged by heavy rains and flood water.
Chawla said the government had already fixed Rs4000 per 40 kg as a support price, but the cabinet had to fix the procurement target so that procurement at the centres could be started from the second week of the current month, February 2023.
The cabinet after thorough discussions decided to set 1.4 MMT procurement target and directed the department to achieve that target.
The Chief Minister said the procurement must be started directly from the growers so that the benefit of the good price being offered by the government could pass on to them.
To a question, Mukesh Chawla said that carry-over bardana to the extent of 0.40 MMT was available with the food department.
At this, the CM directed him to use the available bardana for procurement in the early-harvest regions of Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad. The Minister for Food said that one million PP bags would be procured to meet the requirement of the target of 1.4 MMT of wheat.
The chief minister giving policy guidelines to the food department for the procurement of wheat said it [wheat] must be procured from the growers on a first come first serve basis. The baradna should be issued to the growers.
He categorically told the department that the field staff involved in misappropriation/shortage/ defalcation would not be posted as in charge (s) of the procurement centres.
Shah also directed the department that the inflow of wheat from other provinces and outflows of wheat from Sindh must be checked for which he directed the district administration to extend support to the department for the purpose.
Climate Resilient agriculture & water management: Advisor to CM Manzoor Wassan briefing the cabinet about Transforming the Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management said that its objective was to strengthen institutional and regulatory systems for climate-responsive, especially in the water sector. He added that climate information would be generated to use in response to climate disasters and decision-making.
The farming community’s adaptive capacity would be enhanced along with creating awareness of the climate change threats and risk reduction among them, Wassan said and added it was a Rs3.4 billion project being launched in collaboration with Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The cabinet approved the project and directed the agriculture department to sensitize the assembly members about the benefits of the project and start holding workshops in the districts.
SICVD: The cabinet on the request of the health department allotted 40 acres of land in Tapa Landhi, District Korangi for the construction of the state-of-art Sindh Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases.
The cabinet approved the appointment of Imtiaz Ali Shah as Managing Director Sindh Energy Efficiency & Conservation Agency. Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh told the cabinet that Imtiaz Shah has been selected among nine candidates who had also applied for the post.
The cabinet approved the nomination of Dr Nazeer Kalhoro, DG Sindh Institute of Animal Health member of the Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council (PVMC) for the current term.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023