Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif has approved a wheat subsidy of Rs. 5,000 per acre for 600,000 farmers as part of the government Kissan Card initiative. The subsidy will also be available to farmers who are not yet registered under the Kissan Card program.
CM Punjab has announced that additional billions of rupees will be allocated to support farmers in the upcoming crop season. It was also shared during the meeting that farmers have already used Rs. 36 billion through the Kissan Card program to purchase fertilizers.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif further reviewed the progress of the solarization scheme for agricultural tube wells.
In a related development, Khalid Hussain Bath Chairman of the Kisan Ittehad has warned that farmers would go on a hunger strike in Islamabad if the government does not fix the wheat price. He expressed concern over the falling prices which dropped by Rs. 400 per 40 kg following CM Maryam Nawaz recent announcement.
Khalid Bath criticized the government plan to have wheat purchased by third party vendors rather than directly by the government. He questioned how farmers in Punjab unfamiliar with European-style procurement systems would understand such process. He also raised concerns about the storage system by warning that it could lead to further corruption.
He urged CM Maryam Nawaz to base policy decisions on the actual needs and opinions of farmers rather than relying solely on bureaucratic advice.
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