KARACHI, Jan 31: This refers to the news item captioned "TCP not furnishing data on cotton procurement" published in the Business section of Dawn on Jan 29. The factual position is given as under:
a) It is clarified that data/details about its ginnery wise procurement of cotton of this season is available with the TCP. The allegation that TCP is reluctant to furnish the data is not correct.
It, however, may be appreciated that the data changed on day to day basis while the operation was continuing due to contracts by ginners, offerings by ginners, checking and acceptance/rejection by PCSI classers, dispatches of accepted bales to TCP god owns, etc. In fact TCP had been sending data on procurement of cotton to various relevant government agencies as well as Ginners Association (PCGA) on daily basis.
b) The TCP has undertaken massive cotton procurement during 2004-05 season, on the directives of the government to stabilize the market. TCP made contracts for procurement of over 2.5 million bales against stocks and 1.569 million bales have already been delivered by the ginners and this quantity has arrived at TCP warehouses.
c) The procurement price of lint cotton by the TCP has been fixed/ approved by the Government as Rs2314/40 kg (or Rs2154/md). This price was determined on the basis of standard formula after taking into consideration the support price of Rs925/40 kg, ginning cost (as fixed by the Punjab and Sindh Governments), ginning out turn (GOT) and the average cotton seed price.
d) Government has also constituted Inter Ministerial Committee on Cotton Procurement which regularly monitored TCP cotton procurement and cotton prices on weekly basis.
The Committee is headed by the Minister for Commerce and comprises Ministers for Food, Agriculture and Livestock; Industries and Production; and Textile industry, and all stakeholders viz; growers.
KCA PCGA, APTMA, TCP and Provincial Governments. All stakeholders had unanimously appreciated TCP's performance/cotton procurement in stabilizing cotton prices to the benefit of the growers.
TCP cotton procurement price of Rs2159 per md and was also discussed in all the meetings of Inter-Ministerial Committee. It was decided to maintain the price of the TCP i.e. Rs2159 per maund.
It may also be clarified that Task Force on Cotton constituted by the government under the Chairman, TCP did not contain in its terms of reference either the issue of ginning out turn (GOT) or revision of TCP procurement price as mentioned in the news item.
e) The impression of the analyst that growers were not benefited, is also not correct. On the contrary, growers received good price of their produce due to aggressive buying of cotton/intervention by the TCP. In case-TOP had not intervened, the cotton prices would have crashed and reduced by Rs200-300 per maund causing colossal damage to the growers of cotton.
f) It is further clarified that the TCP does not buy cotton from growers. It buys lint cotton from ginneries. TCP has purchased lint cotton from all those ginners who were willing to sell required cotton to the TCP. The question of discrimination (as alleged in the report) therefore does not arise.
g) The report that the PM Secretariat had also asked TCP to supply details of ginnery-wise procurement is also baseless.
