(December 11, 2023)The negotiations between flour millers and the Punjab Food Department that started on November 13 have ended without any agreement.
The flour millers have refused to buy sub-par wheat from the Food Department and have started buying wheat from the open market.
Private wheat is of better quality as compared to government-provided wheat, but it is also costly, which results in an additional financial burden on the masses.
Due to the use of expensive wheat being purchased from the private sector by millers, flour has become expensive in the market, for which the policies of the food authorities are being blamed.
According to the details, the food department was supplying substandard and unhealthy wheat to 130 flour mills located in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Lately, the ratio of sand, gravel, and dust was almost a kilogram per 100 kg bag, but it has now jumped to eight to ten kilograms, which is not acceptable to millers as it translates into heavy losses.
Moreover, the authorities are also forcing flour millers to buy 25% of the required wheat from the warehouses located in the remote districts of South Punjab to sell it in the local market at the control rate.
This decision of the food authorities is unacceptable to the flour mill owners because the cost of transportation per sack from Punjab to Rawalpindi and Islamabad is almost five hundred rupees.
The pressure on flour mills despite the removal of subsidies is surprising, and it does not make any sense for the people involved in the grinding business.
Currently, the price of government wheat is Rs 4700 per maund, while private wheat is available at Rs 5050 per maund.
The flour mills are using private wheat; therefore, people have to pay Rs 1430 for a bag of 10 kg of flour instead of Rs 1374, which is an additional burden.
Meanwhile, the President of the Flour Mills Association, Rawalpindi Region, Riazullah Khan, and other leaders, including Tariq Sadiq, Kashif Shabbir, Raza Ahmad Shah, Khawaja Imran, Chaudhry Mukhtar, Sanaullah Durrani Tariq Sethi, Abdul Rahman Khan, and Sheikh Shaukat asked the Secretary Food Punjab, Director Food Punjab, Commissioners of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and other authorities to take note of the situation and take necessary steps aimed at providing relief to the masses and the floor milling industry.
