Vowing to protect the interests of all farmers of the province, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday said that her government would ensure the provision of fertilizers to the farmers at all costs, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Chairing a special meeting held to review the demand and supply of fertilizers in the province, the chief minister made it clear that no negligence in stopping the hoarding and smuggling of the substance would be tolerated. “I will not tolerate the exploitation of farmers,” Maryam said categorically.

She was of the view that a foolproof system should be devised to ensure the supply of fertilizers to farmers.

The CM directed that there should be proper monitoring of the supply of fertilizers from the plant to dealers.

The meeting expressed satisfaction that the prices of fertilizers had come down.

The meeting discussed the recommendations made to amend the Pesticides and Fertilizers Act.  

It was decided to set up a special helpline for registration with the Kissan Card Programme.

It was informed that the demand and production of fertilizers in Punjab stood at 6.5 million tonnes.

Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, Provincial Minister for Information Azma Bukhari, Provincial Minister for Agriculture Syed Muhammad Ashiq Hussain, MPA Sania Ashiq, Special Assistant to the CM Rashid Nasrullah, Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, secretary finance, agriculture, industry and other concerned officials were present on the occasion.

Reporter: Rao Dilshad Hussain