The government has set up complaint cell at the food and agriculture ministry to respond to farmers' complaints in the forthcoming wheat procurement season. Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Mir Israrullah Zehri, while chairing wheat procurement preparatory meeting here on Monday, said efforts are under way to have effective procurement in place so that farmers do not face any problem.
The minister expressed the resolve that the farmers, especially small farmers would be protected against exploitation of middlemen and the government would ensure provision of official wheat support price of Rs 950 per 40-kg to them. "Farmers usually face difficulties in getting bardana (bags) for their produce, but we are trying our level best to enforce a smooth and transparent mechanism so that bardana is distributed among the genuine growers," the minister added.
Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) had been assigned procurement of 1.3 MT of wheat this season - 1.26 MT will be procured from Punjab while 0.04 MT from Sindh. Passco has set up 12 zones in both provinces with additional sub-centers in each zone.
Zehri added that the complaint cell, established at Minfa, would register complaints of farmers. He said response from the concerned officials will be readily available. The minister also directed the concerned officials that the contact numbers of the cell must be disseminated through print and electronic media. The complaint cell will be looked after by Dr G M Mahmoodi, who was also directed to inform the minister about farmers' complaints on a daily basis. Mahmoodi could be contacted on 051-9208360, 0333-5226620 for any complaint related to wheat procurement of the federal government.
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