LAHORE, Dec 22 (APP):Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat on Wednesday said that the minimum price of sugarcane in the province was determined in consultation with the Punjab Sugarcane Control Board.
He was answering the questions related to the Food department during the current session of Punjab Assembly which started two hours and 5 minutes behind its schedule time with Panel of Chairman Mian Shafee in the chair.
He said that Rs. 1.5 per 40 kilograms of sugar cess was collected each from landlords and mill owners from sugar mills from August 2018 to July 2021, received more than Rs 4.54 billion.
The law minister said that sugar cess was spent on construction and repair of broken roads in the respective area. “From the year 2018 till now, Rs. 1.21 billion of sugar cess has been given to the districts for development works”, he said and added that last year the distribution of bardana for procurement of wheat was kept open and bardana was provided to every landlord as per demand.
The minister said that effective measures were being taken to protect the wheat lying in the warehouses.
Raja Basharat said that 214 officers were working in Lahore under Punjab Food Authority and 21 government vehicles were being used in field operations. He said that 6 lacto machines of Food Authority in Lahore checked up to 300 milk carrying vehicles in a day. “There are 33 flour chakkies registered in Lahore and the rest are unregistered.
According to the policy, each registered mill is provided 300 kg of wheat daily at a rate fixed by the Punjab Cabinet while the price of flour was fixed by the Deputy Commissioner in consultation with the chakki owners,” he added. He said that subsidy was given to sugar mills after the approval of finance committee, adding that Food department was taking action against those involved in sale of unhygienic milk on daily basis.
Responding to the questions related to Agriculture department, Punjab Minister for Agriculture Husnain Jahanian Gardezi said that farmers could use modern methods to enhance the production as subsidy of 50 to 60 percent was given to them on latest machinery, adding that the price of DAP fertilizer was increased due to changing circumstances globally.
Pakistan imported 70 percent of fertilizers from China and other 30 percent from Saudi Arabia and Morocco so China had stopped the export of fertilizer last year due to which the cost of such fertilizer increased.
He said that the government has given a subsidy of Rs eight billion to the farmers while claims of Rs 49.88 million were also paid to them. He said that Rs four billion were reserved for research and development of agriculture sector during the period 2013 to 2018 while the present government has spent Rs 11 billion for research purpose, he added.
The minister said that the government has also increased non development budget of agriculture sector to 31 billion rupees, adding that ‘Kisan Cards’ would be distributed so that the farmers could avail subsidy.
During the session, the House also passed a resolution, presented by MPA Uzma Kardar pertaining to measures for promotion of hockey.
Later, on completion of agenda, the session was adjourned till December 24 (Friday) at 9:00 a.m.
Meanwhile, earlier, talking to media in the Punjab Assembly, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat said that the date of local bodies elections in Punjab was not decided yet as the Punjab government has to consult with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Replying a question on Maryam Nawaz’s comments suggesting PTI leaders to wear helmets, the minister said, “We are political people and we know what to do in politics.”
Raja Basharat said that there was inflation but the Punjab government was taking steps to control it.
