Govt warned of acute flour crisis if wheat quota not restored

MULTAN: The south Punjab traders and industrialists’ associations Wednesday warned the government that there would be a severe flour crisis if the government does not restore judicious quota of wheat to flour mills keeping in view the population of the region.

Talking to reporters, the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Sheikh Fzal Elahi said the associations had rejected the wheat release policy of the Punjab Food Department and said the government did not let the flour mills to purchase wheat from the farmers to meet its procurement targets. Now it had slashed their quota.

He said it was voiced at a representative meeting of Chambers of Commerce and Industry South Punjab, Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association and other associations of the region, which demanded the government take immediate measures to rectify the situation.

The meeting was attended by presidents of Multan, Bahawalpur, Khanewal, Vehari, Khanewal and Rahimyar Khan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Multan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, PCGA, APBUMA and APFMA and it reviewed the problems confronted by the flour millers and a looming flour crisis in south Punjab.

He said all the associations were largely convinced that south Punjab produces 64pc wheat but its quota was reduced considerably. Representatives of Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) said the policy of issuing wheat on the basis of urban population is completely unrealistic, wrong and is tantamount to inviting crisis on its own.

The associations claimed that the flour mills in small districts of the province are going to be deprived of the uniform quota of wheat at the cost of a few large cities, making it impossible to run flour mills by members of PFMA.

Resultantly, they added, the supply of flour in the markets will be severely affected. Now this policy will create a new flour crisis in the area.

Flour millers asked the Punjab government to release wheat for grinding under a liberal issue policy, terming it a panacea for all ills ranging from pilferage of grains to flour price hike. If market players are given wheat as per their actual demand for grinding, the ghost mills will automatically quit the market as functional mills will not be dependent on them for meeting their grain requirements anymore, said leaders of PFMA.

The meeting suggested the government must review its wheat quota policy and grant at least 40 bags (of 100 kg each) per body quota. The meeting was addressed by MCCI President Sheikh Fazal Elahi, Senior Vice President, Mian Rashid Iqbal Khawaja Muhammad Yusuf, Chaudhry Muhammad Shafiq Aleem, APBUMA Chairman Syed Muhammad Ahsan Shah, PCGA leaders Shehzad Ali Khan, Suhail Mehmood Haral, Rao Sadaruddin,, Ex-president of MCCI Khawaja Muhammad Usman, Javed Iqbal Zia-ur-Rehman, Muhammad Ghazanfar, Chaudhry Muhammad Jamil, Mehmood Khan Durrani, Chaudhry Abdul Jabbar, Shafi Anis, Sheikh, Mian Idrees Ahmed, Sheikh Akbar Ali, Saeed Agha, and MCCI secretary Muhammad Shafiq and MCCI president Sheikh Fazal Elahi.