Punjab local bodies poll date to be decided after consultations with ECP: Raja Basharat

LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat on Wednesday said that the date of local bodies elections in Punjab will be decided after consultation with the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Replying to a question on Maryam Nawaz’s comments suggesting PTI leaders to wear helmets before approaching masses for votes, the minister said, “We are political people and we know what to do in politics,”

Basharat admitted rising inflation in the country but maintained that the Punjab Government is taking steps to control it.

Later in the Punjab Assembly session, while answering questions related to the food department, he said that the minimum price of sugarcane in the province was determined in consultation with the Punjab Sugar Cane Control Board. He said that Rs.1.5 per 40 kilograms of sugar cess was collected each from landlords and mill owners from sugar mills which from August 2018 to July 2021 received more than Rs 4.54 billion. The law minister said that sugar cess was spent on construction and repair of broken roads in the respective area.

“From the year 2018 till now, Rs 1.21 billion of sugar cess has been given to the districts for development works.” He further informed the House that last year the distribution of bardana for procurement of wheat was kept open and bardana was provided to every landlord as per demand.

He said that effective measures were being taken to protect the wheat lying in the warehouses. Raja Basharat said that 214 officers were working in Lahore under Punjab Food Authority and 21 government vehicles were being used in field operations.

He said that 6 lacto machines of Food Authority in Lahore checked up to 300 milk carrying vehicles in a day. “There are 33 flour chakkies registered in Lahore and the rest are unregistered. According to the policy, each registered mill is provided 300 kg of wheat daily at a rate fixed by the Punjab Cabinet while the price of flour was fixed by the Deputy Commissioner in consultation with the chakki owners,” he added.