SAHIWAL: Up to 18 female prisoners were awarded eid gift hampers by the central prisons department on Friday.

Jail Superintendent Asger Ali said the prison staff and officers donated money to buy gift hampers.

WHEAT PROCUREMENT: Wheat procurement has been started by the Food Department and the Pakistan Agriculture Storage Services Corporation (Passco) in Sahiwal.

Imran Munir, deputy director, said 132,000 metric tons of wheat would be procured in district Sahiwal in the ongoing drive. Up to 20 wheat procurement centres had been established, of which eight were in Sahiwal and 12 in Chichawatni.

Up to 157,420 gunny bags with 7,070 of 100kg each and 150,350 kg of 50 kg had also been provided to wheat growers. Also, lumberdars have been asked to convince local growers to sell wheat crops at food procurement centres.

Ikramul Haq, the district food controller, said the department is pushing hard to accomplish the wheat procurement target. He said that because of environmental changes and rain patterns, there is a danger of less yield in wheat.

Food Department inspectors are checking wheat smuggling to other districts.

Food Department sources said 40 check-posts were established at different locations in the Sahiwal division to check wheat smuggling to other districts. Reports said in different raids, food inspectors seized more than 1,500 wheat bags at different locations of divisions.

All illegal smugglers are nabbed under the Punjab Food Stuff Act of 1958.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2023