19 November 2004	Friday	06 Shawwal 1425

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KARACHI, Nov 18: The Sindh Assembly was on Thursday informed that there was a shortfall of at least 0.8 million tonnes of wheat in the province which was being met through federal allocation.

Food Minister Arif Jatoi made the statement during question hour in a written reply to a question asked by the PPP' Humera Alwani.

The minister informed the house that out of the federal allocation of 0.8 million tonnes, 0.5 million tonnes comprised imported wheat, another 0.2 million tonnes was acquired from the PASSCO and the remaining quantity from the Punjab food department.

When asked about the approximate wheat requirement of the province up to the arrival of new crop, and whether there was an acute shortage of wheat, particularly in upper Sindh, Mr Jatoi said that public sector was providing 1.2 million tonnes that included the strategic reserve of 0.2 million tonnes. The fresh crop would be arriving in March next year, he added.

When asked whether the Sindh government had approached Punjab for the supply of 50,000 tonnes of wheat to met the day-to-day requirement in Sindh, the minister gave details of the federal allocations. He, nevertheless, said that the Punjab government had delivered 50,000 tonnes of wheat during the last financial year when there was a shortage in Sindh.

He was also asked to tell the house what steps were being taken to overcome wheat shortage in future. The minister stated that apart from allocating the 0.8 million tonnes, the federal government had committed to release an additional quantity in case the shortfall persisted. It had recently approved import of an additional 0.5 million tonnes of wheat for strategic reserve.

The house was also informed that the PASSCO had procured 5000 tonnes of wheat from Punjab in March this year.

Ms Nasreen Chandio of the PPP wanted to know whether it was true that 490 work-charge employees of the food department in Larkana district had not been paid their salaries for several months.

Mr Jatoi said it was not correct. He clarified that there were only 90 work-charge employees in the district whereas the total number of such employees in the entire province was 490. He claimed that they had been paid their salaries.

He said the government wanted to regularize the work-charge employees in accordance with the laid-down procedure. The matter was under active consideration, he added.