LAHORE, Oct 21: The controversy surrounding the start of sugarcane-crushing season hit the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday when the opposition demanded a timeframe in this regard.

Provincial Food Minister Chaudhry Iqbal was not able to satisfy the other side and a heated debate consumed well over half an hour.

Raja Riaz, on a point of order, asked the speaker to let the house debate the issue as interests of millions of farmers were at stake. The millers, aided by some officials, were delaying the crushing season. The sugarcane crop, he said, was ready for harvest and the delay could hurt farmers. But, the government had still not been able to make the millers start crushing sugarcane.

Asghar Gujjar of the MMA was of the view that the government was not aware of the magnitude of the law and order problem that the delay could cause. It was a matter of life and death for growers and they would not allow anyone to rob them of their toil of a whole year. Delayed season would mean a loss of billions of rupees for farmers and the government would be held responsible for it.

The food minister assured the house that the government was fully alive to the situation and would not let it slip out of hand. Both the federal and provincial governments were working on it and farmers would soon hear a good news. The federal government had formed a committee headed by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz to sort out the matter. The millers’ complaint about glut in the market was considered by the government, and it promised to purchase 100,000 tons of sugar to stabilize the market. The only sticking point was how much sugar should the government buy. The miller were insisting that they had much more in their stocks than the government was ready to procure. Once the matter was resolved, it would not take long for the season to start. The Data Ganj Bukhash Sugar Mill had already announced that it would start the season by Nov 2. Others would soon follow the suite, he hoped.

Another controversy surfaced in the house when Aftab Ahmad Khan, on a privilege motion, asked the house to form a committee to probe the alleged removal of an inaugural plate of the chief minister by a police officer at Hujra Shah Muqeem.

Samiullah Khan said that they wanted to reverse a dangerous trend in the country through this motion. It was a pity that police had acted so outrageously with the chief minister of the province, and took no time to remove the inauguration plate. But the same department acted so cravenly when it had to face a driver of a serving army general. The motion, he said, was designed to tell all who was in charge of the province. He asked the chair to form a committee of the house so that the matter was properly investigated.

But the provincial law minister, Raja Basharat, did not agree with the movers and said that the whole incident was based on a misconception. The police were given the impression that their office space was being occupied by the local press community. The press club building, inaugurated by the CM on Aug 11, was built on a piece of land that belonged to the police. It was never transferred to the press. Police did not know details of the affair and removed the plate. The matter has since been sorted out, the police officer concerned transferred and others taken to task. So, there was no need to form a committee, he insisted. The chair did not allow formation of a committee on the issue.