Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said that the government will ensure the supply of fertilisers to the farmers at any cost and failure to prevent hoarding and smuggling of the agricultural input would not be tolerated.
Presiding over a meeting, she directed the relevant authorities to ensure effective measures to prevent hoarding and illegal transportation of fertilisers. She also emphasised the need to adopt foolproof procedures to ensure availability of fertilisers to the farmers.
She ordered steps for the effective digital monitoring of fertiliser supply from the plants to dealers.
She also decided in principle to establish a helpline for registration in the Kisan Card Programme.
The CM was informed during a briefing that the demand as well as production of urea fertiliser in Punjab is about 6.5 million tonnes. About 70% of the country's production of urea fertiliser is used for the crops in Punjab.
Satisfaction was expressed over the trend of reduction in fertiliser rates. Recommendations for amendments to the Pesticide and Fertiliser Act were also considered in the meeting.
Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Information and Culture Minister Azma Zahid Bukhari, Agriculture Minister Syed Muhammad Ashiq Hussain, MPA Sania Ashiq and Special Assistant Rashid Nasrullah attended the meeting. The chief secretary, secretaries of finance, agriculture and industry, principal secretary to the CM and other relevant officers were also present.
Meanwhile, speaking to members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) from different districts, the chief minister said, ”Food prices will come down further, because we are creating a separate system for price control and other related issues. Whenever the PML-N comes to power, rates of food items fall. On the contrary, some people in the past used to say that they did not come to power for potatoes and onions.“
She said a big Kisan Card project is in the offing for the farmers of Punjab.
”There used to be scams in buying wheat, but now farmers will be given subsidy directly,” she said.
The chief minister said, ”It has been proposed to the federal government to reduce the import duty on agricultural machinery and tractors.”
She also said the government would bring hybrid buses to the city, besides giving motorbikes to the youth.”
“A loan scheme proposal is also under consideration for building houses on two to four marla plots. Moreover, houses will be built for the homeless people. Currently, we are reviewing availability of land in the villages for the purpose,” she informed the elected representatives.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2024.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ