Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research has urged the government to expedite the release of funds to the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to timely purchase cotton from growers and stabilize prices.
The panel at its latest meeting conveyed serious concern on the government’s part to delay the announcement of Cotton’s Support Price this year, reported a national daily.
The committee had earlier recommended the minimum support price of Rs. 8,500 per 40kg while the Economic Coordination Committee of the Federal Cabinet has the mandate to fix the price.
Chairman Muzaffar Hussain Shah is concerned that this delay may discourage farmers from Cotton cultivation as they are forced to sell their crop at Rs. 6,500 to Rs. 7,000 per kg.
While the Ministry of National Food Security has requested the government to allow TCP to buy the Cotton from growers, but the committee was briefed that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has yet to release the funds for the purpose.
The chairman of the Senate committee asked the government to release the funds by the SBP immediately. He opined that cotton production in Sindh has been good but the crop in Punjab may get affected due to floods. Pertinently, the Punjab government is set to assess the damage caused by floods to understand the full impact on the cotton sector.
The committee also expressed concerns over the non-payment of salaries to the staff of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) and the non-recovery of cotton cess from textile mills.
Senator Shah requested a report from the ministry regarding these issues and called for immediate action to resolve the salary payment and cotton cess collection matters.
