LAHORE: The PML-Q, an ally of the ruling PTI, has criticised the government’s wheat procurement policy terming it against interests of the local farmers.

“It’s not justified that the farmer of Ukraine should flourish while the local farmer should go penniless,” said Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, acting Punjab governor and a leader of PML-Q, in reference to import of wheat from Ukraine at a higher cost as compared to what the government’s support price for local wheat growers.

In a statement issued after a meeting with some new entrants to the Q League here on Sunday, he rejected the Rs1,600 per 40 kg wheat support price announced by the government for the season 2020-21 and said the government should retain this lollypop for a better cause.

He said the federal government must fix at least Rs2,000 per 40 kg support price following the decision of the Sindh cabinet and lauded the parliamentarians who raised their voice for the cause of the wheat growers.

Mr Elahi claimed that the wheat rate in the open market was Rs2,400 per 40 kg at present and it won’t be a big deal if the government fixed the support price at Rs2,000 per 40kg, arguing that the government would have to incentivise the agriculture sector for enabling the farmers to compete their counterparts in the world.

On the occasion, former Shakargarh tehsil nazim Muhammad Ahmed Sangra and Tehreek-i-Labbaik ticket holder Nasir Chauhan announced their joining the PML-Q.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2020