LAHORE: Sugar mills have at last begun crushing season after a month-long delay as the Punjab government has tasked various ministers and administrative secretaries with monitoring the purchase of sugarcane crop by the millers.

The crushing season usually starts by November 10 but this time it was delayed as the millers demanded export of surplus sugar as well as the release of rebate outstanding against the previous exports.

A group of farmers staged a sit-in at Thokar Niaz Beg, one of the main entrances of the provincial capital, for two days last week forcing the provincial authorities to use its influence for steering the industry and the agriculture sector out of crisis. The demonstration worked.

The chief minister has allocated various districts where sugarcane is grown to 19 ministers and as many administrative secretaries for supervising and on-site monitoring of the purchase of the crop in the four-month season.

The ministers tasked with the duty are: Shoukat Laleka (Bahawalnagar), Hashim Jawan Bakht (Rahim Yar Khan), Samiullah Chaudhry (Bahawalpur), Mehar Aslam (Layyah), Hussain Jehania Gardezi (Khanewal), Ijaz Masih (Okara), Hashim Dogar (Kasur), Mian Aslam Iqbal (Nankana Sahib), Hafiz Mumtaz (Faisalabad), Muhammad Ajmal (Chiniot), Ansar Majeed Khan (Sargodha), Chaudhry Zaheer (Bhakkar), Mohsin Leghari (Rajanpur), Ashifa Riaz (Toba Tek Singh), Yasir Humayun (Khushab), Pir Saeedul Hassan (Mandi Bahauddin), Taimoor Khan (Jhang), Hasnain Bahadar Dreshak (Muzaffargarh), and Sibtain Khan (Mianwali).

Commissioners and deputy commissioners have also been directed to launch a campaign with the help of police against illegal weighbridges and submit report on daily basis to the food secretary.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2018