LAHORE, April 28: The Punjab Food Department will procure 0.75 million ton wheat and 0.25 million ton flour for the NWFP during the year, says provincial Food Minister Nadeem Kamran.

At a press conference here on Monday, the minister said another 90,000 ton wheat would also be provided to the NWFP to meet the short-term requirement. Out of it, 70,000 ton would be imported wheat and 20,000 ton local.

The department would also provide 300,000 ton wheat to Balochistan during the current year and another 150 ton flour to ‘galliat’ areas.

Flanked by Punjab Food Secretary Rao Iftikhar Ahmad and Balochistan Food Secretary Azam Khan, the minister said they were entering into agreements with Balochistan and NWFP governments to regulate the wheat movement and avoid any crisis-like situation. No hoarding, illegal storage or transportation would be allowed at any cost, he said.

The minister said 23 check-posts had been set up on borders with Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan to check smuggling of wheat and flour. These posts would keep a round-the-clock vigil and remain operational for the whole year.

He said the posts were connected with the department headquarters through the satellite system and closed-circuit televisions. They had also been set up at all exit points of the motorway to check wheat transportation.

“Nobody will be allowed to exploit the situation, and only license-holders will be allowed to deal in wheat trade. Even the license-holders will not be allowed to procure the commodity more than the limits,” he said.

He said the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation would remain limited to 13 tehsils and one district allocated to it for procurement to meet its allocated target of 1.4 million ton.

The minister said lists of rice, feed or oil mills, illegally involved in storage, had been prepared and raiding teams constituted to check the trend. The district coordination officers and district police officers concerned would head the raiding teams in their respective districts.

He said millers could be given 35 ton wheat per roller body from official storage, and they could store wheat equivalent to three-day grinding capacity. The food secretary, deputy secretaries and all other officials would visit the procurement areas and monitor the process to ensure transparency, he said.

The Punjab food secretary said the department had purchased over 400,000 ton wheat, and Okara district was leading in the procurement drive. He said a toll-free number would soon be installed at the secretariat to help growers and check any illegal storage and transportation of wheat.

He said a reward would be given to the person who would provide information regarding illegal stock of wheat. The reward would be equal to five per cent of the total value of the stock. He said the informer’s name would also be kept secret. A summary in this regard had been sent for approval.

The secretary said 70 per cent gunny bags required for the procurement of targeted wheat were present with the department, while the rest would be available till May 15.