LAHORE: Punjab Food Minister Bilal Yasin stated on Monday that the government is unable to purchase wheat in the current situation. He made this statement in response to questions posed in the Punjab Assembly.
The Punjab government will issue a farmer relief card to provide relief to farmers.
Yasin informed the House that the government had intended to buy wheat from farmers, but farmers had already sold 90% of their produce. As farmers do not have wheat, the government cannot spend billions of rupees to benefit middlemen.
The session, which started two hours and thirty-two minutes late, was chaired by Speaker Punjab Assembly Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan.
Opposition leader Ahmed Khan Bachhar criticized the government’s poor policy, which has led to a wheat procurement crisis, resulting in billions of rupees in losses to the national treasury due to wheat imports. Meanwhile, the government has failed to take action against those causing losses to the national treasury.
Bachhar accused the Punjab government of committing economic murder by not purchasing wheat from farmers.
He questioned why there had been no investigation into the wheat scandal since July 13. The current government is not making progress or taking action, and importing wheat has caused a loss of Rs 11 billion and 37 crores to the treasury.
In the Punjab Assembly session, opposition and government members expressed concern over the law and order situation and demanded that the government take measures to maintain peace and security.
Opposition member Rana Aftab Ahmed Khan pointed out that the House is not complete, as party seats were given to others by the Election Commission as a gift, and then the High Court and Supreme Court suspended the decision. Rana Aftab Ahmed argued that those who received seats as a gift should not be allowed to sit in the House.
Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan responded that they had sought a clear explanation in writing from the Advocate General and Law Department regarding the court’s decision. Suspended members will not be allowed to participate in voting, and the Speaker does not have the authority to suspend members on reserved seats until the Election Commission denotifies them based on Supreme Court orders. The Speaker emphasized the need to follow the Constitution.
Earlier, Speaker Assembly Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan stated that when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took over the party presidency, he said he was only the custodian, and Nawaz Sharif is the party leader.
He emphasized the importance of accepting mistakes in politics to move forward. He criticized Imran Khan’s stance of negotiating with the establishment rather than political leadership, calling it a deadly poison for the country’s progress. He also emphasized the need for dialogue to resolve issues in Kashmir, where a government was formed through a public mandate.
He respects Arif Alvi but urged him to refrain from making certain statements. The solution to Kashmir’s issues lies in dialogue, not force, which has resulted in the loss of a police officer’s life.
Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan said the government plans to buy wheat from farmers with six-acre landholdings and is willing to talk to all parties on the wheat issue.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024