PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi on Monday directed the relevant officials to convene an immediate meeting with the chairman of the Pakistan Tobacco Board to formally take up the issues confronting tobacco growers in Buner.
He said this as a delegation of the Buner Tobacco Action Committee met him and discussed the challenges faced by tobacco growers, particularly the non-purchase of their ready crop and the resulting situation.
The delegation briefed the chief minister on the difficulties being encountered in the procurement of tobacco crop and the risk of potential financial losses to growers.
The chief minister directed that two local representatives of the growers be included in the meeting to ensure that their concerns were presented directly to the relevant authorities.He directed that the timely procurement of the ready tobacco crop be addressed on an emergency basis and that all necessary measures be taken to protect growers from potential financial losses.
Sohail Afridi directed that the issue of increasing the tobacco procurement quota be placed on the agenda of the meeting. He directed the relevant authorities to identify and propose viable measures to address the structural issues faced by tobacco growers on a sustainable basis.
