RAWALPINDI: The Flour Mills Association Rawalpindi region on Sunday night withdrew its decision to observe a strike after an assurance from the provincial government that wheat would be supplied to all mills without any discrimination.

The mill owners assured the government that they wouldsupply wheat flour at the official rates without any hurdle from Monday morning.

Talks were held between the Punjab Food Department and representatives of the Flour Mills Association over the issue of government quota for wheat on Sunday night.

Punjab Food Department Director Shahid Yaqoob and other senior officials represented the government while Raza Shah, Abid Mirza, Chaudhry Mukhtar, Abdul Rehman, Sheikh Shaukat, Nasir Ali, Sheikh Arif, Tariq Sethi, Tanveer Alvi, Javed Sheikh and Mohammad Hamza attended the meeting from the association.

Food dept says wheat to be provided to all mills under govt quota without discrimination

The flour mills association decided to withdraw the strike call after the administration assured them that wheat would be provided to the mills as per the government policy.

Raza Shah, an executive member of the association, told Dawn that from Monday 17 bags of wheat would be provided to each flour mill.

He said wheat flour would be sold at the rate of Rs490 per 10kg bag and Rs980 per 20kg bag.

He said the association had 250 flour mills that would deliver flour to every area of Rawalpindi. The food department had stopped the official wheat quota without any reason.

The issue surfaced on June 1 when the commissioner Rawalpindi issued show-cause notices to five flour mills and banned the supply of wheat under the quota to a mill on the charge of grinding less quantity of wheat and hoarding it.

The commissioner also sought a reply from them within three days as why they were grinding less quantity of wheat provided to them by the government and hoarding it, creating a shortage for the consumers.

Meanwhile, the district administration established 1,797 sale points to provide subsidised wheat flour at the rate of Rs490 per 10kg bag and Rs980 per 20kg bag.

Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Tahir Farooq said under the special package on the direction of Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, a 20kg bag of flour was available in the market at Rs980.

He said the district administration had prepared a list of 25 locations in the city of Rawalpindi where millers will sell wheat flour on trucks.

He said at the sale points, 94,336 bags weighing 10kg, 34,520 bags of 20kg and 36 bags of 79kg had been supplied. “The city has ample supply of flour,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2022