Govt sends flour bags to PML-N MPA’s house

LAHORE:After Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Uzma Bukhari’s fierce criticism of the ongoing wheat crisis, the Punjab government sent a truckload of flour bags to her residence in Model Town on Wednesday to dispel the impression of non-availability of flour at official rates.

The action was taken in response to Uzma Bukhari’s complaint about unavailability of flour in Lahore at official rate. Uzma Bukhari has, however, termed it an invasion on her privacy, and an attempt for cheap publicity to divert attention from the fact of disappearance of flour from markets and availability of flour only at exorbitant rates. “It was a drama orchestrated at the behest of the Punjab government,” she said.

Earlier, the workers of the Punjab Food Authority offloaded 40 sacks of flour outside her house on the directions of the higher authorities. “Uzma Bukhari had complained of not being able to find flour at Rs 790 per 20 kg despite sending her cook for three days, said Umar Tanveer, chairman, Punjab Food Authority (PFA), adding that the flour was available in the province.

Uzma Bukhari said that she was informed in the morning that a truck was parked outside her residence with dozens of flour bags.

She said that those accompanying the truck refused to move it from outside her house. She said PFA officials refused to move away and insisted upon delivering the flour at her home, therefore, forcefully piled up the flour bags at her gate.

Upon this, she said, she agreed to take one bag of 20 kg flour, paying its official rate of Rs790. But even after that, the truck wasn’t moved, resulting in a spectacle that attracted area residents, who then started buying wheat from the truck. In all, it took an hour to remove the truck from outside her residence. Punjab Food Minister Samiullah Chaudhry had ruled out impression of any shortage of wheat flour in the province. “There is no flour crisis in the province”, said Samiullah Chaudhry. The food minister challenged he could show the wheat stock in the godowns of the provincial government.