ELLAHABAD/HAFIZABAD
The Kissan Board Pakistan and the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad have called upon the government to formulate pro-grower wheat and sugar policy without further delay to remove uncertainty among the agricultural community. Addressing a press conference here, KBP Central President Sardar Zafar Hussain said that sowing of sugarcane and wheat has started but the government has not yet bothered to announce the support prices for wheat and sugarcane.
He warned that if policy was not announced by November 19, they growers would resort to countrywide demonstrations from November 20. He further said that prices of oil, electricity and fertilisers were skyrocketing and the government should devise measures to bring down the prices of these commodities otherwise the production of sugar and wheat would decrease.
Another meeting held in Ellahabad discussed the problems being faced by the Farmers in Punjab and regretted that the government was not taking serious steps to provide relief for the community.
The rates of the sugarcane are not being increased due to which anxiety has enlarged among the farmers of the suburban areas of Ellahabad, said farmers during the meeting. They narrated that the prices of household things etc are skyrocketing but the government was totally ignoring the problems of farmers.
Almost 80 percent people are related to the agriculture but the government of the Punjab is trying its best to grant all the benefits to the owners of the mills and paying no attention to the troubles of farmers, they said. The prices of the fertilisers, diesel and electricity are increasing constantly but neither the rate of sugarcane is being increased nor the problems of farmers are being taken into notice by the present government.
SECURITY PLAN: Foolproof security arrangements have been made by the District Administration to ensure peace in the district on Muharram 9 and 10, said DCO Mansoor Qadir and DPO Muhammad Zubair Drashak. Addressing District Peace Committee, they said that the administration was alive to maintain law and order at all costs and warned that those found creating law and order situation would be dealt with sternly.
The DPO said that 62 processions would be taken out in the district on Muharram 9 and 10 of which 11 have been declared most sensitive and the administration would strictly monitor the security arrangements at such Majalis and processions.  The DPO has expressed his satisfaction over the security arrangements being made by the police in the district and added that more than 900 cops and more than 200 other personnel were being deputed to ensure law and order.
Meanwhile, pillion riding and perching atop the buildings en route the processions has been strictly prohibited. The meeting also appealed to the local journalists particularly those of electronic media to desist from dispatching sensitive news without confirming it from the control rooms which have been set up in the DCO and DPO offices (0547-521784 and 524141).