Farmers’ interests to be protected: CM

LAHORE
CHIEF Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that with the grace of Almighty Allah, there has been a bumper wheat crop this year and the interests of farmers will be safeguarded like the previous years and payments to them for their produce at the fixed rate will be ensured.
All necessary measures will be taken for stabilising wheat price and it will be ensured that farmers are not affected by the low price of wheat and slump in the international market.
He was addressing a high-level meeting here Tuesday which reviewed various proposals regarding wheat procurement campaign for the year 2015-16.
Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said wheat procurement campaign would be launched at the end of April in Punjab and gunny bags would be distributed among the cultivators in accordance with the settled policy.
He said the system of distribution of gunny bags would be just and highly transparent and gunny bags would be issued on the basis of ‘first come first served’. He said middleman and ‘Arhtis’ would not be allowed to involve in the wheat procurement campaign and exploit cultivators. He said all necessary facilities would be provided to cultivators at the procurement centres. He said complaint cells would be established at provincial, divisional, district and tehsil levels and the complaints of the cultivators would be addressed immediately. He directed Provincial Minister for Food Bilal Yasin and Secretary Food to publicise their phone numbers so that farmers could contact them directly in case of any problem.
He said information technology should be fully utilised in the procurement of wheat from cultivators while citizen feedback system should be introduced for resolving the farmers’ problems. He said a modern system should be evolved for effective monitoring of wheat procurement campaign.
Shahbaz Sharif directed that wheat should be procured from small cultivators on priority basis. He said he would personally monitor wheat procurement campaign while provincial ministers and secretaries would remain in the field for supervising procurement process. Assembly members gave various proposals regarding wheat procurement campaign while Secretary Food gave a briefing on the arrangements made in this regard.
FATA MPs: A delegation of Senators and MNAs from FATA led by Alhaj Shah Jee Gul Afridi, MNA called on Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, here Tuesday.
The chief minister congratulated newly-elected Senators from FATA and said they had been given an opportunity by Allah to serve the nation and it was hoped that they would play an active role for country’s progress. He said the displaced persons of North Waziristan had left their homes for Pakistan and faced problems and hardships and it was hoped that peace would be restored in the country due to their sacrifices. He said that return of IDPs augurs well. He said the Punjab government had extended all-out help to the displaced persons as it was a national obligation to support those who were making sacrifices for the nation.
He said the brave forces of Pakistan were achieving glorious success in operation Zarb-e-Azb and writing a new history of courage in the war on terror.
He said that besides use of force, provision of education and health facilities and employment opportunities was essential for rooting out terrorism and extremism. He said that tolerance, restraint and brotherhood will have to be promoted for setting up a peaceful society.
The delegation included Senators Taj Muhammad Afridi, Aurangzeb Khan, Momin Khan, Sajjad Hussain Toori, MNA Dr GG Jamal, Nasir Khan, Haji Bismillah Khan, Sajid Hussain Toori and Bilal-ur-Rehman.