PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday warned that the yearly exercise of wheat procurement could result in further spread of coronavirus in Punjab, asking the government to devise new SOPs for the purpose.

In a series of tweets, Shehbaz said the procurement centres could be the new potential hotspots, as the farmers would gather there to collect bardana (gunny bags).

https://twitter.com/CMShehbaz/status/1247859514981978112

The PML-N president noted that Punjab tops the list with the most number of coronavirus cases and the risks of coronavirus spread were quite significant.

He stressed the need for revisiting the traditional system while devising a new mechanism and communicating the same with farmers in clear terms.

“It is essential that the govt revisits the traditional system of wheat procurement from the farmers, devises new SOPs and communicates it clearly,” Shehbaz said.

Earlier, he had said in another tweet that the government should defer the agri loans of farmers with up to 12 acres of land for one year.

After a meeting with the agriculture experts to discuss the issues faced by farmers, he had also called for addressing the coronavirus threat at wheat procurement centres.

https://twitter.com/CMShehbaz/status/1247577884564340736

He had also noted that wheat harvesting and transporting the produce to markets was the biggest challenge which required immediate preparations.

https://twitter.com/president_pmln/status/1247459706714628097