LAHORE, April 21: The Punjab food department, on the first day of its procurement campaign kicked off on Thursday, purchased 448 metric tons of wheat from growers on cash payment at the support price of Rs415 per 40kg.

This was stated by Punjab food secretary Mohammad Ahsan Raja while talking to APP during his visit to a procurement centre in Ghakkar Mandi, Gujranwala, on Friday.

He said the food minister, the food director and all divisional monitoring teams were visiting procurement centres across the province to ensure transparency in wheat purchase.

He said four-member union council vigilance committees comprising representatives of MNAs/MPAs, local government and lumberdars had also been activated to ensure that no injustice was done to any farmer.

He advised growers to bring properly harvested standard quality fresh stock of wheat free from any adulteration.