Cabinet fixes wheat support price at Rs1,650 per 40-kg

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday met to increase the wheat support price by Rs100 and fix it at Rs1,650 per 40-kg for the Rabi season.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz, during a briefing on the cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan here, said, “We have to take care of both people and farmers so that people do not get expensive flour and farmers should also get a fair price as they earn their living by their hard work.”

The meeting took stock of the economic situation, wheat support price fixing issue, Covid-19 situation in the country and political scene and decided not to hold more public meetings in view of the virus, it was learnt. He pointed out that an increase of Rs100 had been made for the farmers, which would reduce their cost of production and this would make farmers and people happy.

The minister said Sindh's approach of not releasing grain on time was wrong and it caused rise in the price of flour and the crisis forced people to buy expensive flour and this was felt in other provinces as well.

He said that Sindh did not buy a single grain last year, the federal government released about 700,000 tonnes of wheat from Pakistan Agricultural Storage & Services Corporation (Passco) to it. He claimed that Sindh was still not releasing wheat as per the standards, which made a difference in prices and Punjab, a major wheat producing province was getting flour at a lower price, which caused problems in supply.

The minister explained, “The new support price, now we think will be good for both and the government is trying not to increase the price of flour. At present the price of wheat in the world market is at high level while the price being paid by the Sindh government is even higher than the world price”.

About the issues discussed in the cabinet meeting, he said that subsidies were also discussed, adding that unfortunately no such steps had been taken in this country for the last 50 years to rationalise them.

He said that in the past the structuring of the institutions was not done and thepolicy was to only take care about today and tomorrow; the next government would manage it and the strategy had harmed the country.

Shibli said that if one looked at the revenue and expenditures, it would be clear that everything being done, including defence and running the government affairs, is being done through loans.

He said that the beneficiaries of the subsidies were somehow included the millionaires, as they were getting the same subsidy on wheat, electricity, gas and other things as a poor man was getting the same subsidy. The minister noted that the subsidy should be given to those who are entitled to it, the subsidy should be given to the poor and middle class and the special assistant for finance has been given the responsibility in this regard.

The minister said “the figures provided to the cabinet surprised the members as about Rs4 trillion was being given in subsidies and arrangements should be made for distribution of such subsidies to reach the deserving people.”

He said that serious work had been started on that and for the purpose they were using Ehsaas and other documents and a strategy would be made on the basis of those documents. The minister said Covid-19 was also discussed in the meeting. By the grace of Allah, the strategy the government evolved caused less harm during the first wave of it. He said that as the cold weather is increasing, the Covid-19 infection rate was going up and now it had reached 5%. Similarly, the number of deaths is also increasing and unfortunately 23 people were dying every day.

He said that as per the directive of the prime minister, we will keep an eye on every activity, which is not affecting the employment and health of the people. He said while discussing the Covid-19 situation, the cabinet after a detailed discussion, reiterated that there would be no restrictions on those sectors, which are linked with job opportunities and creation of wealth. He added that the cabinet emphasised that strict restrictions would be imposed on other sectors to save the lives of people.

To a question, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan had the desire that prices of all edibles should not increase so that the commodity was available for the low income segments at affordable rates.

About a resolution in the Punjab Assembly on fixing wheat support price at Rs2,000 per 40 kg, the minister pointed out that the provinces could express their desire, but it was the job of the federal government to determine the support price, ensuring a balance between people and wheat growers’ interests.

Asked about the privatization plan of the state-owned Pakistan Television, he clarified that the restructuring committee, headed by Dr Ishrat Hussain, had included the state-owned entities to be privatised and restructured. The minister continued that when he came to know about this, he wrote to the committee that PTV was not in the privatisation list and a new board would be constituted the next week and the firm engaged, would also present its report on its restructuring.

About non-compliance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) with regard to Covid-19, Shibli made an appeal to people to be extremely careful, as the disease was fatal. He said that in some countries, certain localities were subjected to imposition of curfew in view of the rapid spread of the virus there.

He said an awareness campaign was also being launched to sensitise people about the SOPs and wearing of mask. If people did not care about this, then again hospitals might face pressure beyond capacity to deal with corona cases, he added.