BAHAWALPUR, May 28: The district food department has achieved only 68 per cent of the wheat procurement target so far for the three districts in the former Bahawalpur division, according to officials.

The department has procured over 376,000 tons of wheat in the Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan districts, which Deputy Food Director Abdul Qayyum Lashari claimed was higher than the figure achieved till May 28 last year.

He said Bahawalnagar was leading in the former division by obtaining 202,434 tons of wheat. The Bahawalpur officials had procured 112,383 tons and Rahim Yar Khan 61,225 tons of wheat so far.

Answering a question, Mr Lashari said the local department was prepared to meet any threat of flour millers, who had announced that they would go on strike from June 5.

He said the local mills would continue grinding wheat and there would be no shortage of flour in the market. He said the government should prevent smuggling of flour for the benefit of consumers in the country.

BYPOLLS: With the announcement of schedule for byelection to the three provincial assembly seats, the ARD's main components are at variance with each other about the nomination of candidates.

It is learnt here on Friday that the PML-N is asking for two seats from the PPP, which claims that it will field its candidates on all the three seats because all the deserters belonged to it.

Meanwhile, nine candidates obtained nomination forms from the returning officer on Friday. They include PML's Dr Muhammad Afzal and Sohaib Karim, PML-N's Chaudhry Khalid Jajja and Chaudhry Iqbal Gulab, Riaz Ahmad Dahar, PPP's District President Saleem Akhtar Bhatti and others, including Shakil Mirza, Raja Ali Siroya and Ijaz Rasool Gill. The last date for filing nomination papers is May 29.