ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, has said that the federal government is ready to supply up to one million tons of wheat to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, provided the province is prepared to receive it.
Responding to supplementary questions of different MNAs during the Question Hour in the National Assembly on Monday, the Minister said, “No food grain shortage was reported in flood-affected areas.” However, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, along with the provisional agriculture department, has taken several measures to avoid any potential shortage of wheat in the upcoming Rabi season.
He said that the federal government is closely working with the provinces to ensure the implementation of sowing plans for the Rabi season 2025-26 to maintain national food security.
The Minister said the federal government is ready to provide one million tons of wheat to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that the provinces already have sufficient stocks of wheat to meet their needs, while the federal government maintains storage reserves to supply any province facing a shortage. He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had reported a shortfall of 800,000 tons of wheat, upon which the federal government offered to provide the required quantity. Initially, the province requested 100,000 tons; however, no formal demand has been received from the provincial government so far, he said. He said that the federal government remains ready to immediately supply as much wheat as the province requires.
He said that the Punjab government has provided a Rs. 100 billion interest-free loan to the farmers for the new crop. He said that the Sindh government has allocated Rs 55.89 billion for the Rabi season to provide 1 bag of DAP and 2 bags of Urea per acre to wheat farmers.
The Minister said that Pakistan faced losses of various crops due to the recent floods, but we are capable to balance it by taking some measures. He said that the country faced a 12 percent loss in rice crop, 03 percent in sugarcane, and the loss of livestock. He said that the Punjab government is providing relief to the farmers by giving free seeds and cash.
To another question, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Nelson Azeem said that the outsourcing of non-functional government health facilities of Islamabad has been initiated, including the Regional Blood Centre. He further told the House that the Blood Centre at the PIMS and Poly Clinic Hospitals are fully functional.
Earlier, at the outset, newly elected member of the National Assembly Bilal Farooq Tarar took the oath of office. The Speaker administered the oath.
Later, the National Assembly passed “The Privatisation Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2025.” The bill did not contain the word ‘Government of Pakistan” and the most extensively used words were the “Federal Government” and “Cabinet”. Furthermore, as the terms “Cabinet” and “Federal Government” are now used interchangeably, it is proposed that the expression “Cabinet” be substituted with the expression “Federal Government.” All these measures necessitate corresponding amendments to the Ordinance, hence, this Bill.”
Apart from this, “The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2025”, and “The Iqbal Academy (Amendment) Bill, 2025”, were introduced in the House.
The chair referred the bills to the concerned standing committees.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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