CHARSADDA: The residents blocked a chowk and staged a protest against the shortage of subsidized flour in the district on Monday.
The protesting residents gathered outside the City Police Station and Assistant Commissioner Chowk and chanted slogans against the government.They also closed the Charsadda-Peshawar road for traffic by placing stones on the route.
In a bid to disperse the protesters, the district administration brought some 150 bags of flour from nearby mills and started distributing it among the people.In the meantime, hundreds of people thronged the venue to get subsidised flour, which created a stampede and resorted to a baton charge.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Sania Safi said that the quota of subsidised flour for the district was too small to cater to the need of the residents.The residents are facing great hardships in receiving the subsidised flour due to a lack of sufficient supply in the district.
Officials said that 500 sacks of wheat were being supplied to 10 flour mills, which made 1750 bags of 20 kilograms each.They said that then those bags were supplied to 112 dealers across the district to sell at subsidized rates to the consumers.
However, the people complained that the population of the district had increased manifold, therefore, the government should enhance the wheat quota for the millers to meet the rising demand for the staple food item. The demand for subsidized flour has increased due to poverty and inflation in the country.