People in Mardan complain about shortage of subsidised flour

MARDAN: The people here on Friday complained that subsidized flour had disappeared from the market and asked the district administration to give relief to the poor in Ramazan.

The district administration has sealed three flourmills in the district.

Talking to The News, the people said that though the district administration had allotted quota to several dealers for the distribution of subsidized flour, some dealers were selling substandard flour.

A resident Naveed Khan said the people were compelled to purchase the flour at high prices from the open market. He alleged that billions of rupees were

going into the pockets of the corrupt.

He alleged that a few weeks ago, the Food Department caught the flourmills red-handed and cancelled their licenses, but their quotas were restored after a few days as they were influential people.

Another resident Mohammad Hussain complained that the subsidized flour had disappeared from the market. He alleged that the district administration had distributed subsidised flour quota on a political basis.

Deputy Commissioner Abdul Rahman de-notified the quota of the dealers who were getting the subsidized flour a few months ago.

Later a committee was notified to scrutinize new applications to ensure transparency in the distribution of the subsidized flour.

On January 3, the district administration issued another list of 234 dealers for the distribution of the subsidized flour. The district administration also closed the fair price shop at flourmills. However, despite all these measures, the majority of the people complained that the subsidized flour had disappeared from different areas.

They complained that some of the dealers were selling substandard subsidized flour.

This correspondent sent a WhatsApp message to the deputy commissioner for his stance, but he did not reply.

A text message was also sent to the district food officer for his comments but he too did not respond.