LAHORE: Farmers have rejected the Rs1,800 per 40kg price of wheat fixed by the federal government the other day and demanded the government raise it to Rs2,000 per 40kg.

In a joint statement issued here on Sunday, Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee general secretary Farooq Tariq and Pakistan Kissan Ittehad president Zulfiqar Awan demanded the federal government equalise its wheat rate with the one offered by the Sindh government (Rs2,000/40kg).

They lauded the Sindh government for announcing the wheat support price when the crop was being sown and helped the growers decide whether to sow or not it.

They said as power, gas, oil, seeds and fertilizer prices were continuously on the rise, the federal government should also add Rs200 more to the rate of the wheat, making it equal with that of the Sindh’s.

The farmers’ representatives said they were protesting in every district in support of the demand but the authorities were ignoring it and forcing the community to ride on their tractors to reach Lahore and encircle the government offices.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2021