LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the wheat harvesting campaign-2015 at village Warah Malik Shah Muhammad Awan on Saturday.

He launched the campaign by cutting wheat plants with a traditional sickle and also harvested wheat by driving a harvester.

After the inauguration, he addressed a gathering of farmers and said there was a bumper wheat crop this year.

Subsidised tractors for small farmers

He also announced the provision of 10,000 tractors on concessional rates to small farmers and added that the Punjab government would give a Rs200,000 subsidy a tractor to small farmers from the next financial year.

The chief minister said the subsidised tractors would be given to those farmers having 12.5 acres. He said the PML-N government was fully aware of the problems of farmers and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had taken several measures for their redressal.

Mr Sharif said he himself realised the problems of farmers and it was our endeavor that farmers should get due return of their hard work. He said that instead of profit, farmers had to face losses in some crops and the prime minister and he himself were aware of the situation very well. That is why the government fixed sugarcane price at Rs180 per 40kg whereas in Sindh, the price of sugarcane was reduced from Rs182 to 155 per 40kg but even then the Punjab government did not reduce the sugarcane price from Rs180 per 40kg for the farmers.

The chief minister said the farmers also benefited from the reduction in prices of petroleum products at international market and the electricity bills were also reduced which had certainly lessened the problems of farmers.

He said there was a bumper wheat crop in Pakistan this year and the Punjab government had fixed wheat procurement target of 4 million tonnes and its price at Rs1,300 per 40 kg. He said wheat would be bought from farmers transparently during the wheat procurement campaign and clear cut instructions had been issued to the Food Department.

He said wheat would be procured from small farmers first and they would get due return of their hard work. The chief minister said he would personally monitor all procurement campaign and injustice would not be allowed with anyone.

He said that earlier the Punjab government had provided tractors of billions of rupees on concessional rates to the farmers, upon which, a subsidy of Rs200,000 per tractor was given. He said the scheme was being launched again during the current financial year, in which, 10,000 tractors would be provided to small farmers.

He said if anyone tried to benefit middleman or arthi during the wheat procurement campaign, strict action would be taken against them.

He said that round the clock hard work of farmers had brought fruit and there was a record wheat production this year. He said that 376 wheat procurement centres had been set up in the province for the facility of farmers.

He said that transparency had been ensured in the process of wheat procurement.

The chief minister said the Punjab government took a number of steps for the farmers and no one would be allowed to exploit farmers. After the inauguration of the wheat procurement campaign, special prayers were offered for the security and prosperity of the country.

Provincial Ministers Bilal Yasin, Dr Farrukh Javed, MPAs, secretaries, commissioner of Lahore, the Lahore DCO and a large number of farmers were also present.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2015

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