ISLAMABAD: In a significant step aimed at facilitating cotton farmers, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday appro­ved its support price at Rs8,500 per 40 kilograms.

The prime minister while chairing a meeting of the Agriculture Task Force directed the authorities concerned to place the matter before the Econo­mic Coordination Commit­tee on priority. He urged the provinces to ensure the implementation of the new cotton price.

PM Shehbaz described cotton as the backbone of the country’s textile sector and expressed the confidence that the step would help the growers in a considerable manner.

The meeting was informed that last year, cotton production faced exponential reduction due to floods, heavy rains, shortage of canal irrigation water and the fertilizer crisis. This year, the meeting was told, the overall cotton production has been estimated at 12.77 million bales.

Free wheat flour

At a separate meeting, the prime minister decided that the federal government would distribute wheat flour among one million residents of Islamabad free of charge during Ramazan.

The prime minister, chairing a meeting to discuss measures for reducing the impact of inflation on the lower and middle-income classes, said the government was striving to minimise their difficulties. He invited the provincial governments of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to become part of the scheme.

The PM instructed the authorities concerned to take advantage of modern technology to ensure transparency in the distribution of free wheat flour.

The meeting was infor­med a programme for supply of free wheat flour on the outskirts of Islamabad during the holy month was in the final stages that would benefit around 150,000 households.

The prime minister also, in principle, decided to provide petrol for the motorcycle and rickshaw owners on reduced rates as a programme for their relief had been designed.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2023