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Watch
Punjab defers dismantling
Food Department
LAHORE-The Punjab government has
shelved the idea of dismantling the provincial Food Department.
The decision to defer the abolition of Food Department came at a
high level meeting presided over by Governor Punjab Lt Gen (Retd)
Muhammad Safdar. It is learnt that the meeting decided to
continue with Food Department as long as private sector emerges
as a viable option for the farmers and develop the capacity to
handle huge quantity of wheat.
The participants of the meeting pointed out that since the
private sector lacks necessary capital for procurement of wheat
coupled with no capacity to store huge quantity of wheat, so any
attempt at privatizing the procurement of wheat will be
suicidal. The meeting decided that Food Department would not be
abolished, at least, till 2002 while a gradual approach will be
adopted for emerging a procurement mechanism.
Meanwhile, the provincial Taskforce on Wheat Procurement will
devise mechanism for greater involvement of private sector in
wheat procurement.It may be noted that Punjab and the Sindh had outrightly turned
down the federal governments directive on the abolition of their
food departments, which is one of the major conditions of the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) for sanctioning the $ 250 million
loan for agriculture sector reforms. Later, Sindh had agreed to
abolish its Food Department, leaving Punjab behind as main
opponent of the proposal.
As per condition of the ADB, the federal bodyPakistan
Agriculture Storages and Supply Corporation (PASSCO)would only
be allowed to procure the wheat up to two million ton besides
abolishing all the provincial food departments. The rest of the
wheat procurement would be carried out by the private sector.
Sources said the other condition of the ADB for sanctioning the
loan included withdrawal of subsidy on wheat
.
In order to discuss main objectives of the draft policy matrix
sponsored by the ADP for Pakistan Agriculture Sector Programme
Loan worth $ 250 million, in the light of views of the
Provincial Agriculture and Food Departments to finalize the
comments of Punjab Government, a meeting was held here on
Saturday under the president of Governor Punjab, Lt Gen (Retd)
Muhammad Safdar.
Provincial Ministers Tariq Hameed, Khurshid Zaman Qureshi,
chairman P&D, Agriculture and Food Secretaries, Chairman
Agriculture Task Force Jahangir Khan Tareen, progressive
farmers, Farhat Ullah Khan, Hamid Malhi and Ms. Rabia Sultan
also attended the meeting.
The Governor observed that Punjab Province is making an
overwhelming contribution to the national agriculture sector and
acts as the major driving force for growth and development of
the countrys economy. As a result of present governments farmer
friendly policies like announcement of realistic support prices
and aggressive extension efforts, the Punjab agrarian sector has
progressed from deficit to surplus regime while Pakistan has
achieved food self sufficiency and produced surplus wheat for
export for the first time in the countrys history.
He said reforms in the agriculture sector must protect the
interest of small farmers and consumers of the province. To
effectively cope with the increasing wheat production, we need
to enhance storage capacity at the farm level, besides its
export to foreign countries at competitive prices in the
shortest possible time. Punjab has set up a Task Force headed by
Jahangir Khan Tareen to suggest measures for improving wheat
marketing both within and outside the country. As regards
replacement of traditional wheat procurement model as proposed
in the policy matrix, there should be a gradual sure footed
introduction of private sector alongwith withdrawal of the Food
Department in an ordinary manner so that farmers Interest is
fully safeguarded,
he added.
Similarly, the role of Food Department needs to be re- defined
and reorganized for improving efficiency of procurement drive to
ensure speedy export of surplus wheat. He said the government is
spending rupees 50 to 60 crore annually on the agriculture
research institutes. He stressed the vital need for further
strengthening and upgrading quality of farm- oriented research
for meeting global challenges and achieving vertical growth. The
Governor urged upon the food and agrarian experts to carefully
analyze the impact of the policy prescriptions on agrarian
sector, included in the Pakistan Agriculture Sector Programme
Loan and finalize their recommendations, before the MOU is
signed with the ADP. Courtesy The Nation 19 August
2001
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