Mills may take over cotton body

The government is considering handing over Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC), which conducts research to improve cotton quality, to the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma). The committee is facing a financial crunch due to failure of textile millers to pay their dues. Millers are reluctant to pay cotton cess and in this regard they have filed lawsuits. Following this, the government has decided to dissolve PCCC, an institution created to undertake research work to improve the quality of Pakistan's cotton crop, which is the mainstay for the textile industry. The government is working on two proposals. First proposal involves the handing over of PCCC, which is working as an attached department of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, to Aptma, a major body of textile millers.