Lahore:
The Punjab assembly experienced a thunderstorm session on Thursday when the provincial government announced that it would not set the price for the supply of wheat or buy the harvest this season – a declaration which triggered a strong reaction and a scrape of the opposition.
Tensions have increased when the MPA of the Muslim League of Pakistan (PML-N) MPA Salma Butt, special assistant of the chief minister on price control and basic product management, described the government’s policy on wheat.
Butt said that the government would not intervene in the fixing of wheat prices or the purchase of the grain. However, she said that farmers’ well-being remains a priority, noting an increase in the agricultural development budget of 29 billion rupees to 64 billion rupees.
In order to offer relief, it announced the distribution of 1,000 free tractors to farmers between May 1 and May 3025.
She also said that farmers could now store their wheat and obtain up to 70% of its value thanks to bank funding.
Opposition chief Ahmad Khan Bhachar criticized the government’s position, comparing him to tell farmers to “eat bread instead of roti”.
He accused the government of having abandoned the agricultural community of Punjab and demanded a rescue set of 250 billion rupees to prevent the distress and the difficulties of farmers.
“If the government does not reduce its own extravagant expenses to support farmers, they die of hunger,” warned Bhachar, before leading the opposition in a raising of the session.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Auqaf and Religious Affairs, Shafay Hussain, admitted during the session that the striking had occupied several properties belonging to the Department of Auqaf.
He said the government had managed to recover five acres and three Kaillands of land and tried to recover more throughout the province. He also announced his intention to introduce boxes of modern donations resembling ATM machines in the main sanctuaries to improve transparency and the effectiveness of collection.
The assembly should continue its debates on agricultural policy and agrarian reforms in the coming days.
LHC audience
The High Court of Lahore (LHC) postponed on Tuesday May 2, the hearing of a request requiring the price of wheat to be fixed at 4,000 rupees per 40 kg, after the provincial government informed the court that the question of deregulation of wheat is currently being studied by the firm of Punjab.
Judge Sultan Tanvir Ahmad presided over the hearing, during which a representative of the provincial prices control department declared to the court that a final decision concerning wheat prices and the supply is expected soon from the cabinet. The lawyer for the federal government pointed out that the petitioner should have approached the Court timely, to which Tanvir judge criticized critically, questioning the preparation of the state.
“You don’t know when the harvest is ready? And ordinary people if your condition is like that?” He observed. The petitioner Ghumlam Abbas filed a file against the provincial government, the secretary of the food department and the director general of Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Pasco).
In his petition, Abbas argued that if the government plans to fix the price of wheat to Rs2,200 by 40 kg, the average cost of production per acre is Rs3,600.
He argued that the failure of the offer of a fair price and the purchase of wheat from farmers is both contrary to ethics and illegal, adding that such policies would exacerbate the difficulties encountered by the agricultural community.
