Peshawar  -  Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur has directed the quarters concerned to digitize all the official business of Food Department including procurement of wheat its transportation and storage at provincial reserve centres.

He was chairing a meeting of Food Department, attended by the Provincial Minister for Food Zahir Shah Toru, Secretary Food Saqib Aslam Raza and other senior officials of food department.

The meeting deliberated upon various matters including provincial government’s course of action in the context of federal government’s decision to dissolve Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO). It was decided to include a scheme in upcoming Annual Development Program (ADP) for enhancing the wheat storage capacity of the provincial government.

In the meeting, it was also agreed that, in case of dissolution of PASSCO, a guarantee will be sought from the federal and Punjab governments that no ban shall be imposed on inter-provincial transportation of wheat & wheat flour, adding that the matter would be taken up in Council of Common Interest (CCI).

The participants also made a threadbare discussion on payments of outstanding dues to PASSCO for the purchased wheat. It was decided in the meeting to pay the outstanding dues of local farmers on priority basis and the concerned authorities were directed for necessary steps to this end.

Moreover, various matters regarding better management and efficient utilisation of Food Department’s properties also came under discussion and important decisions were taken. The participants of the meeting were also briefed on annual requirement of wheat, available stock of wheat, storage capacity and wheat release policy of the provincial government, and apprised that a sufficient stock of wheat was available with the provincial food department. 

The Chief Minister, in his concluding remarks, directed the quarters concerned to make sure cent percent transparency in all process of wheat procurement ensuring that high quality wheat is purchased, further directing them to expedite the digitization of official business of the Food Department.