Flour prices jump as millers refuse to buy govt wheat

Rawalpindi:The residents of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have been paying a huge cost for the poor performance of the District Food Department and local administration, Rawalpindi, and buying low-quality flour literally at prices of gold but concerned officers only doing lip service and paperwork rather than taking concrete steps to stop smuggling and hoarding to control flour which was being sold in ‘black’.

Over 70 per cent flourmill owners are not purchasing government wheat from the District Food Department due to its exorbitant prices and as a result public is buying ‘atta’ in ‘black’ at skyrocketing prices but nobody cares about it. 

The flourmill owners are purchasing wheat privately and selling ‘atta’ bags at the price of gold but bosses are busy in other works rather than providing relief to innocent people. A 15-kilogram ‘atta’ bag is being sold between Rs2250 to Rs2500 in the open market but nobody cares about it, thanks to the unstable system in the country.

Neither the food department nor the local administration, in Rawalpindi is controlling profiteers and hoarders for selling flour at exorbitant prices. The food department is blaming the local administration while the local administration is blaming the food department for the price hike.

The food department said that controlling prices is the duty of the local administration while local administration said that it is the duty of the food department.

Deputy Director (Food) Ghulam Abbas Mehar told ‘The News’ that the Punjab government fixed the rate of 40-kilogram wheat at Rs4700 against Rs3900 therefore majority of flourmill owners are not purchasing government wheat. Punjab government had a fixed rate of 40-kilogram wheat at Rs3900 which was reasonable and affordable for flourmill owners. “How flourmill owners could purchase expensive government wheat,” he said. “In this situation, the food department could not control ‘Atta’ prices because it was the duty of local administration,” he claimed. “If the Punjab government does not reduce government rates of wheat, flour prices will further increase in coming days,” he warned. The government and flourmill owners are not facing any kind of loss but only the public is facing a financial crisis and buying ‘atta’ at the price of gold.

The dealers have hoarded ‘atta’ and selling a 15-kilogram bag at Rs2250 to Rs2500 while ‘Chakki’ owners were selling 1-kilogram ‘atta’ at Rs180 to Rs200. The price of a 20-kilogram ‘atta’ bag has reached Rs3000 to Rs3250 in retail shops. There was no ‘Atta’ here in government-run Utility Stores for over four months.

The concerned department is playing on both sides of the wicket and neither stopping ‘Atta’ smuggling nor controlling profiteers and hoarders. But the factual position is that the District Food Department, local administration, and flourmill owners have taken full benefit of the present political instability in the country. The flourmill owners are continuously increasing the prices of flour while the concerned department completely flopped to curb ‘Wheat Smuggling’ to KP and Afghanistan.