The cabinet on Tuesday decided to establish a centralised database to maintain record of stocks of essential food items available with the federal and provincial governments to ensure the country does not face shortage.
According to local media reports, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry addressed a press conference outside Parliament House after the cabinet meeting which was presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“During last year’s wheat and wheat flour shortage, it came to the notice of the federal government that there was no database available to check how much of the commodity was available in the country and where, therefore the cabinet decided to maintain a database,” Chaudhry said.
“With the help of the database, the government will be able to take a decision on demand and supply as well as transportation, assess prices and further strengthen cooperation between the federal and provincial governments,” he added.
Under the system the centre will have the latest information on the sale and purchase of wheat by provinces as their governments would be bound to share details of wheat stocks with the centre.
“During last year’s crisis, the centre did not know how much wheat was available with the Sindh government,” the minister said.
Earlier, the cabinet members also welcomed the inclusion of Shaukat Tareen as finance minister.
