KARACHI, July 26: The Sindh Assembly was on Monday informed that wheat stocks in the province as on Dec 1, 2003 stood at 234,852.408 million tonnes which included 71,539.912 tonnes in Karachi district.
The information was provided during question hour on a query by Nawab Ali Wassan who had asked for district-wise details of wheat stocks as on July 1 and then Dec 1, 2003.
Minister for Food Arif Mustafa Jatoi said that his department maintained sufficient stocks in government godowns after procuring wheat from growers for onward release to flour mills/chakkis to cater to the flour requirement of Sindh citizens.
He said that the total stocks as on July 1, 2003 stood at 604,157 million tonnes. The district-wise figures of wheat stocks (in tonnes) as on Dec 1, 2003 were: Hyderabad 3765.955, Badin 16, Thatta (nil), Dadu 40661.080, Mirpurkhas 5030.147, Sanghar 17145.717, Thar 1970.798, Sukkur 7340.512, Ghotki 7518.182, Khairpur 28656.785, Naushahro Feroz 10855.400, Nawabshah 18988.007, Larkana 9933.931, Shikarpur 306.736 and Jacobabad 11123.246.
The minister also gave details of the district-wise stocks as on July 1, 2003. Replying to a question raised by Mrs Humera Alwani, he said that the Punjab government had imposed a ban on the inter-provincial movement of wheat in June 2004.
It did not provide any relief so far as the wheat deficit provinces were concerned. Such a move, he added, proved beneficial to the provinces which produced a commodity more than their domestic consumption.
In reply to another question by the same member, Minister for Planning and Development Syed Shoaib Ahmed Bukhari said that the federal government had released Rs400 million to Sindh for DERA programme during the fiscal 2003-04. He told the house that the funds had been distributed among 12 districts as approved by the Provincial Steering Committee on DERA.
He also gave details of the schemes, both ongoing and already completed, in Thatta district as on January 31, 2004. Mr Bukhari said that 111 DERA schemes were being executed in the district with a total expenditure of Rs285.451 million as against the released funds of Rs334.360 million.
In reply to Ms Alwani's third question, the minister informed the house that the Coastal Development Authority, Sindh, had been established under the Coastal Development Authority Act of 1994, passed by the Sindh Assembly and duly notified vide PAS/Legis B-24/94 dated Nov 29, 1994, with the objective of ensuring development, improvement and beautification of the coastal areas along the coastline of Thatta and Badin districts.
He said that the strength of the CDA was 15 as against the sanctioned strength of 30. They are: Minister for Planning and Development (chairman) and secretaries of Planning & Development, Finance & Cooperation, Forest, Agriculture, Culture and Tourism, Local Government, Works & Services, Environment & Alternate Energy, Livestock & Fisheries, as well as DCOs of Thatta and Badin districts, MPAs Syed Ali Bux Shah and Syed Karim Dino Shah, as members.
