PM orders crackdown on wheat hoarding

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday ordered for an immediate crackdown on those involved in wheat hoarding across country and asked the chief secretaries of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to ensure prevention of wheat smuggling.

He also directed all four provincial chief secretaries to continue zero tolerance policy against adulteration and not to make any concessions in this regard.

The PM said that comprehensive and systematic administrative measures should be taken to further improve inter-provincial coordination and ensure equitable prices of wheat and flour across country.

He also directed the Sindh chief secretary to finalise wheat release policy his province as soon as possible, keeping in view the experience of the last year. He said that the plan for implementation of the decision to import wheat to meet the future needs of wheat and flour be finalised as early as possible.

PM Imran Khan chaired a meeting to ensure adequate supply of wheat and flour to the people across the country and to control prices.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Hamad Azhar, Fakhr Imam, advisors Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Abdul Razaq Dawood, Special Assistant Dr Shahbaz Gil and senior officers.

Provincial chief secretaries attended the meeting through video link.

The meeting also reviewed the availability of sugar at reasonable prices. Detailed briefing was given to the meeting by Punjab and KP chief secretaries on wheat situation and wheat and flour prices.

The Punjab CS said that a 20-kg flour bag was being provided at Rs860 in all cities of the province. He said the Punjab government was releasing 18,000 tonnes of wheat on a daily basis to ensure ample availability of wheat.

About 20 per cent of flour is being sent to KP to meet the needs of the province. The Punjab chief secretary also gave a briefing on availability and prices of sugar in the province. The KP chief secretary briefed the meeting on prevention of wheat smuggling.