‘Efforts on to meet 1.44m tonnes of wheat procurement target’

Sindh secretary food officers should take action against the farmers who avoid selling wheat to the government

HYDERABAD:

The Sindh Secretary Food Khurram Shahzad Umar on Saturday conveyed that the provincial government is still behind meeting its wheat procurement target of 1.44 million tonnes. In a meeting at the deputy commissioner office in Matiari district, he directed the food officers to take all legal measures to ensure that the Sindh governmentfixed target for wheat procurement was met.

He said the officers should take action against the farmers who avoid selling wheat to the government. He also called for action on the private warehouses where large quantities of wheat had been stored if necessary.

He said the wheat from such private warehouses where the crop had been illegally stocked should be shifted to the government's warehouses. The secretary also asked the farmers and the traders to realise the importance of government procurement which helped provide wheat to the people in their time of need besides stabilising the prices during the periods of flour price inflation.

Ahsanullah Kori, District Food Controller Matiari, informed the meeting that his district was given the target of procuring 200,000 bags of wheat.