Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed the authorities concerned to prepare an action plan for the privatisation of the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Cooperation (PASSCO).
The prime minister, chairing a meeting to discuss the matters related to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research and PASSCO, also instructed to carry out the restructuring of the Wheat Board.
He said the restructured Wheat Board should include representatives of farmers, Land Information Management System and PASSCO.
PM Shehbaz Sharif called for taking effective measures to enhance the yield of wheat and other crops.
He asked the relevant authorities to formulate an alternate strategy for wheat procurement by the federal government and holding consultation with the provincial governments and also those of Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as well as relevant departments.
The participants of the meeting were briefed about the ToRs and restructuring of the Wheat Board, and also on increasing the crops yield as well as reforms in the PASSCO.
Federal cabinet members including Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Attaullah Tarar, and Ali Pervaiz Malik, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Jahanzeb Khan, PM’s Coordinator Rana Ehsan Afzal and relevant senior officers attended the meeting.
Earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for enhance security coordination with provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, especially for Ashura during Muharram-ul Haram.
PM Shehbaz issued the directives during a meeting with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. They deliberated on the law-and-order situation throughout Muharram-ul-Haram.
Additionally, they discussed the wider political landscape, interior ministry affairs, and other pertinent matters during the meeting.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist activities across the country, especially in KP and Balochistan, since the outlawed militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
It is pertinent to mention here that militants have targeted Muharram processions several times, including a bomb blast that killed more than 40 people attending the main Ashura procession on Karachi’s M. A. Jinnah Road in December 2009.
Earlier, the federal government approved the deployment of armed forces across the country to ensure security during the month of Muharram.
