HYDERABAD, Oct 6: The price of wheat rose on Monday to Rs2,700 to Rs2,800 per 100 kilogram in the open market from Rs2,400 to Rs2,450 per 100kg, a jump of Rs300 to 325 over the past 20 days.

The government has fixed the rate of staple food item at Rs1,932 per 100kg bag but it is available anywhere at official price. Besides, wheat from food department’s godowns has not been released as per quota.

District Coordination Officer Ali Ahmed Lund had claimed at a meeting held a couple of days before Ramazan that the issue of flour supply at fixed rate had been solved once and for all by increasing quota of wheat for Hyderabad district to 215,716 bags on the basis of population formula.

The meeting had also decided that wheat would be sold to flour mills and flour chakkis at Rs1,932 per 100kg bag but the market sources claimed that wheat flour was being sold at Rs23.50 per kg by retailers at the outset of Ramazan and then its price rose gradually to Rs27 and Rs28 per kg against official price of Rs23.50 per and Rs24.50 per kg.

A broker claimed that a 100kg wheat bag was sold in open market at Rs2,700 to Rs2,750 on Monday while Atta Chakki Owners Association president Haji Nawab claimed he had bought the bag at Rs2,800 in open market.

“40 bags of wheat were given to each stone in the city two days before Eid while one week before Eid 50 bags were released to each stone. I believe allocation of wheat changes every week and the food department officials distribute wheat quota of Hyderabad up to New Saeedabad, Hala and Matiari which had been part of defunct Hyderabad district,” he said.

The flour dealers argue that wheat is not being supplied to them from provincial food department’s godowns, which is leading to rise in flour prices.

Mr Nawab said that food department’s allocation for Hyderabad’s flour mills and chakkis had not been issued because of Eid holidays, forcing wholesalers and retailers to buy wheat from open market at exorbitant price.

He maintained that people would have faced shortage of flour if they had not bought wheat from open market.

The district coordination officer and the deputy director of food were not available for comments.

Our Jacobabad correspondent adds: The Jacobabad district has once again been hit by flour crisis for over a week, with flour price jumping to Rs32-35 per kg on Monday from Rs23-25 per kg.

The rise has seriously hit the poor, who are already braving hunger and food crisis due to general price hike.

The flour mills and chakki owners blamed unfair distribution of wheat quota by the food department for acute shortage of wheat, which they said had led to increase in price.

Deputy Food Controller Ali Asghar said that the department had purchased 230,000 bags wheat with 30,000 bags surplus. It had to shift the surplus quota to Shikarpur godowns due to short capacity in Jacobabad godowns. It was now being brought back from there, he added.

The department has also failed to set up flour sale points in the district in accordance with the government decision to help the poor get cheap staple food and lessen their miseries.

Sources claimed that wheat was being smuggled to Afghanistan via Balochistan from Jacobabad in collusion with food department officials and profiteers.