PM orders wheat procurement targets met by June 1

Shehbaz asks provinces to ensure Utility Stores price in open market

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the provinces on Monday to meet the wheat procurement targets by June 1, warning that the people could not be put into any difficulties under any circumstances.

Chairing a meeting, the prime minister expressed his annoyance over the unmet wheat procurement targets by the provinces. He warned explicitly that any shortage of the commodity would not be tolerated.

“The people cannot be made to suffer under any circumstances,” Shehbaz told officials of the Food Security Ministry. “The federal government will provide flour to the people at lower rates at all costs. The wheat shortage will not be tolerated,” he added.

The prime minister said the price of 10 kilogrammes of flour should be maintained at Rs490 at the Utility Stores. He stressed the need for the provinces to take measure to ensure that this price was maintained in the open market also.

The prime minister directed the food security minister to immediately constitute a committee for a transparent distribution of imported wheat among the provinces. He also directed that quality must be ensured in the import of the commodity.

Shehbaz assured the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of the federal government’s every possible support. “Serving the poor people, while rising above politics, is our prime duty,” the prime minister stressed.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Tariq Bashir Cheema, Marriyum Aurangzeb and officials of the relevant ministries. The provincial chief secretaries joined the meeting via a video-link.