Allow Export Of Wheat Through Land Route To Pakistan And CIS Countries: Sukhbir

EGOM Meeting Tomorrow, Should Take A Call On This

5 Dariya News

Chandigarh 24-Apr-2012

 The Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal today requested Union Government to take an early call on allowing export of wheat to Pakistan and other CIS countries through Integrated Check Post(ICP), Attari, to facilitate farmers for getting remunerative price for their agriculture produce. Mr. Badal said that Empower Group of Minister (EGOM) that was meeting tomorrow to take a decision on allowing export of Sugar and Cotton should also contemplate exporting wheat as this year Punjab and other wheat producing states are set to witness record production of wheat. Mr. Badal said that Punjab was facing peculiar crises for storage for safe keeping wheat being procured from the farmers as Union Government has failed to activate Railways to move last season’s paddy stock from the warehouses of the Punjab to the other states. He said that Punjab Mandis were glut with wheat produce as Punjab was hoping to cross the target of 115 lakh tones of wheat procurement this year. Mr. Badal said that 1750 purchase centers throughout the state were working day and night to procure the wheat of farmers and every farmer was being made payment of their produce within 48 hours of lifting of their stock. Making an impassioned appeal to the Union Government to make optimum utilization of Integrated Check Post (ICP) recently inaugurated by Union Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram, the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister said that the Export of wheat to Pakistan and other CIS countries could solve our twin problem of storage and extra production besides giving remunerative price to hard working farmers of the country. He said that if we can allow the export of sugar and cotton to the other countries why the Union Government can’t take bold step of allowing wheat export through land route.  Seeking an early and positive decision on this issue, Mr. Badal said that this move besides improving trade ties with Pakistan would open new vistas of growth of the country.