KARACHI, Oct 09 (DNA): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said
that the federal government being inexperienced and naïve had created
shortage of wheat last year by releasing it just after its harvest in
March and then imported at higher rates and now they were repeating the
same episode.

“We know to procure wheat and at what rates and when to release so that
atta prices in the market remain stable.”

This he said while talking to media just after offering condolence over
the death of legendary actor Umer Sharif at his residence on Saturday.
He was accompanied by his Advisor Murtaza Wahab.

To a question, the chief minister said that last year the PTI government
had released wheat just after its harvest in March. “When wheat is
harvested its stocks circulate in the market in abundance at reasonable
rate and when the stocks start dwindling the governments begin to
release wheat to control the prices,” he said and added the wheat was
harvested in the country in March and were released in October every
year.

Shah said that the PTI government again released wheat in Punjab and in
its other provinces just after harvesting the new crops, therefore wheat
stocks disappeared from the market and prices started going up.

“Surprisingly, they kept us pressing for releasing the wheat to the
millers but we had refused and now in October we would start releasing
the wheat and our stocks were enough to meet our requirement till the
arrival of new crop in March 2022,” he said and added the federal
government was not ready to give Rs5000 per bag price to the local
growers but now they were importing the wheat at a price of Rs6600 per
bag.

The CM said that the atta prices were lower in Sindh than the Punjab but
let the PTI people say whatever they felt fit. “What is their
performance,” he questioned and then replied they [PTI govt] have
unleashed a Tsunami of price hike, unrest, and uncertainty by pursuing
defective, unrealistic, and unworkable policies,” he said and added
therefore the country has bogged down in the worst economic and
political crisis.

Shah said that the PTI has no capability to run the country, but it was
the PPP which has the strength, knowhow and political wisdom to steer
the country out of on-going crisis.
Talking about NCOC’s decisions, Murad Ali Shah said that his government
had been implementing their decisions but “we have taken important
decisions keeping in view the ground situation of the COVID-19,” he
said.

The chief minister said that Umer Sharif was an asset of the country,
and his services would always be remembered. “We are seriously
considering establishing an institute in his name,” he said.

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