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LAHORE, Nov 15 (APP): The Punjab government has approved a 70 percent loan scheme for farmers in exchange for wheat, aiming to build strategic reserves of 2.5 million metric tons of wheat. Sources from the Punjab Food Department confirmed that the e-warehouse receipt system will be activated swiftly to facilitate this initiative, and a proposal has been made to designate the Bank of Punjab as the manager for the wheat loan program.
To support this scheme, Rs1.029 billion will be allocated for the repair of government warehouses, with old warehouses being upgraded through the Communication & Works (C&W) department or PASSCO. Additionally, a digital dashboard will be created to monitor the loans issued to farmers, tracking daily loan details, reserves, and receipts.
In a bid to strengthen the procurement process, the government also proposed increasing wheat procurement funds from Rs51 billion to Rs64 billion. Unused government warehouses will be allocated to the private sector, and in the event of a market downturn, the government will purchase wheat itself. To oversee this process, district strategic reserve committees will be established to manage the purchase, storage, and monitoring of wheat stocks.