ISLAMABAD    -   The National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Se­curity and Research (NFS&R) has recommended that the provinces should ensure provision of free wheat seed to the flood-affected ar­eas at the earliest.

The 26th meeting of the committee was held under the chairman­ship of Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan, MNA, at the National Agricul­ture Research Centre (NARC), Chak Shahzad, Islamabad. The com­mittee recommended that the provinces should ensure provision of free wheat seed to the flood-affected areas through a transparent mechanism at the earliest.

The committee discussed the issues of encroached land of Agricul­ture Research Centre, Balochistan in detail and directed that chair­man PARC may coordinate with the concerned authorities to vacate the land of Agriculture Research Centre in Balochistan and corre­spondence with authorities will also be shared with the committee. The committee also discussed the pay and pension issues of the em­ployees of Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) in detail and di­rected the concerned authorities to resolve the issue at the earliest.

The committee rejected ‘The National Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health Regulatory Authority Bill, 2021’ moved by Rai Mu­hammad Murtaza Iqbal, MNA and ‘The Safe Milk and Dairy Bill, 2021’ moved by Ms Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak, MNA due to the continuous absence of the movers. The committee deferred the matter regarding Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisal­abad and proposal of the provincial government for declaration of ‘Bahawalpur Agriculture Research Institute’ as a Secretariat of South Punjab (moved by Raja Riaz Ahmad, MNA and Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, MNA.