Wheat harvest: ‘Citizens have first claim on our food’

Shahbaz says four million tonnes of wheat will be purchased in Punjab.

MULTAN: Pakistan Muslim League (N) will prepare Pakistan for all wars by building a strong economy, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday. He was addressing farmers at MNA Rao Ajmal Khan’s residence in Deepalpur. Sharif said the PML-N had not waited for five years to fulfill the promises made during its elections campaign. He said the government had devised policies for Pakistan’s welfare for the next 50 years. He also inaugurated the wheat harvest and assured farmers that no policy would be drafted without proper research. He said four million tonnes of wheat would be purchased in the Punjab. The rest would be exported. Sharif said he would personally monitor the harvest and procurement of wheat in the Punjab. He said he would not allow it to be sent it to other parts of the country until the Food Department’s purchase target had been met. He said food produced in Pakistan would be made available to Pakistanis before it was exported.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2014.