LHC summons policy regarding wheat procurement

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday summoned wheat procurement policy from the Punjab government, ARY News reported.

The court was hearing a plea moved by the Punjab farmers against the provincial government’s refusal to buy wheat from them.

The petitioner stated that the government is bound to buy wheat from farmers at the official price and they had announced a policy to purchase wheat from farmers at Rs 3,900 per maund, but it has not implemented it.

The Punjab government was supposed to start buying wheat from farmers from April 22, but no development so far on the wheat purchase, leaving farmers vulnerable to selling their crops at lower prices due to rains.

The petitioner urged the court to direct the government to purchase wheat from farmers and take action against the mafia.

Read more: Punjab farmers move LHC against govt’s refusal to buy wheat

The LHC judge Justice Shahid Karim after an initial hearing on the plea sought a record of the decisions made by the Punjab government regarding wheat procurement.

The farmers across Punjab are protesting against the government’s decision of delaying the wheat buying from them.

Yesterday, sources within the Food Department revealed that the government of Punjab has not decided on wheat procurement yet.