LARKANA, Dec 4: Paddy growers from Shahdadkot, Sujawal Junejo and Mirokhan talukas held a meeting in Shahdadkot on Saturday. They discussed the post-crop situation of paddy varieties IRRI-6 and IRRI-9 in the wake of reduction in rates by rice exporters and government’s delay in setting up procurement centres and announcing support prices for the produce.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Abadgar Board’s Shahdadkot chapter president Ishaq Mugiri, Wajid Chandio, Khaliq Khoso and others criticized the government for what they called its apathy towards their problems.
The meeting decided to stage a rally on Dec 7 in Qubo Saeed Khan and block the Sindh-Balochistan border for acceptance of their demands.
Earlier, the growers observed a hunger strike at the Koto-Moto chowk. A group growers and political activists also observed a huger strike in Qambar on Saturday, supporting demands of paddy growers.
Qambar People’s Party Parliamentarians president Gaibi Khan Chandio, Punhal Soomro, Irshad Lakho, Mithal Khoso and others demanded that the government should procure paddy for Rs400 per 40 kilograms.
A body – Save Sindh’s Agriculture – was also formed in Qambar to struggle for rights of growers. Later, a memorandum was submitted to the office of the district nazim and the DCO, Qambar-Shahdadkot.
SYMPOSIUM: Speakers at an ophthalmic symposium held at the Chandka Medical College on Saturday termed glaucoma the killer of the vision.
Prof Syed Imtiaz Shah, president of the Ophthalmologic Society of Pakistan, Larkana-Sukkur zone, said the disease had affected people in rural areas of Larkana and Sukkur. He said people of 40 years of age and above were more prone to the disease.
Dr Asif, ocular pathologist from London, stressed the need for early diagnosis and awareness about the disease.
Prof Faiz Halipoto, who presided over the first session, said he had so far operated upon half a dozen patients of congenital glaucoma. He pointed towards the lack of follow up treatment in these cases.
