Punjab Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has said wheat procurement in the province has entered the final stage and 3.9 million metric tons and 87 percent target has been achieved so far while 98 percent "bardana" has also been distributed.

He said for the first time in the history of Punjab, a record purchase of 4.5 million metric tons of wheat would be made this year which is a good omen for the people of the province.

Commenting on the wheat procurement report, senior minister said the extra production of one million tons of wheat in Punjab is encouraging and there will be an abundance of flour and no shortage of flour in the coming future. He said the Punjab food department would help in the procurement of wheat for KP and other provinces in the next phase.

The food departments of the two provinces will liaise with each other to complete the wheat procurement process and efforts will be made to ensure that there are no two buyers in the market at the same time so that the procurement process for other provinces is completed in a transparent manner.

Aleem Khan further said Punjab government has relaxed the procurement of wheat for flour mills but the flour mills' policy will be reviews after Eid. He said instead of buying wheat from the government, the flour mills should procure wheat themselves through bank finance which would maintain a competitive atmosphere in the market and also keep the prices of wheat and flour stable.

He expressed his satisfaction over the performance of officers of the Food Department and hoped that the duties would be performed with the same dedication and diligence in the future as well.