MULTAN City News

Rs 130b allocated for wheat procurement in Punjab
From Our Correspondent
MULTAN: The Punjab government has allocated Rs 130 billion for wheat procurement and the government will start purchasing 4 million tons wheat directly from farmers from the last week of April, officials said here on Monday.
The officials said that the government had set-up 276 procurement centres across the province to ensure procurement of each seed of wheat from farmers to minimise financial loss to growers. The Food Department would ensure transparent supply of eight gunny bags for every one acre to farmers, the officials said. The government had evolved computerised system for farmers’ registration and complaints would be entertained through Citizen Feedback System, they added. The government had fixed Rs 1,300 per maund wheat support price, they informed. A mechanism had been evolved to pay farmers through any branch of the bank while presence of farmers’ representatives would be ensured at every wheat procurement centre, they added. They said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had strictly ordered procurement of last seed of wheat from farmers. The Punjab government had directed the Food Department to ensure provision of shades and drinking water for wheat growers at all procurement centres, they added.