Punjab govt to provide wheat subsidy

The Punjab government could provide a subsidy on wheat procurement only for the province, while subsidy issues for other provinces should be taken up with the federal government, said Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht.

Presiding over the 66th meeting of the Cabinet Standing Committee on Finance and Development on Wednesday, the minister said that the 18th amendment further clarified the responsibilities of the province as well as the distribution of resources. He instructed the food, agriculture and finance departments to present recommendations on the disbursement of resources and subsidies after legal consultation with the law department.

“Federal government should ensure allocation of resources and share of the provinces in the subsidy paid to farmers on fertiliser to increase production,” he said. At the meeting, a total of 21 recommendations were tabled by various departments which mainly pertained to renaming and extending the scope of schemes included in the annual development programme.

The meeting approved more than 17 recommendations and demanded their inclusion in the programme. The meeting also called for implementing departmental measures to improve the architecture of public sector buildings under the communications and works department and stressed the need for administrative reforms for better education and training of special children.