KP govt increases wheat supply to mills, restricts flour movement.

Byline: Ali Hazrat Bacha

PESHAWAR -- The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday increased the daily wheat supply to flour mills in the province from 2,000 tons to 3,000 tons and restricted the inter-district flour movement to prevent shortage.

However, the Pakistan Flour Mills Association's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter rejected the move calling the 3,000 tons wheat supply insufficient.

Demanding 6,000 tons wheat for flour mills on a daily basis, it said the price hike couldn't be contained in the open market under the prevailing circumstances following the Punjab government's restriction on wheat supply to KP.

Also, nanbais demanded the authorities increase roti price and warned if that didn't happen within two days, they would increase price on their own.

They insisted that they won't be able to work if flour supply wasn't subsidised.

Millers say increase insufficient; nanbais demand higher roti price

Information minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai and food minister Qalandar Khan Lodhi told a joint news conference here that the decision about increase in wheat supply to flour mills and restriction on flour movement through the imposition of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was made during a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and attended by the chief secretary, provincial police chief and senior food department officials here.

The meeting was informed that the province had sufficient stock of wheat and flour but the vested interests were trying to create artificial shortage.

'We have enough wheat stock and therefore, the supply of wheat to flour mills has been increased from 2,000 tons to 3,000 tons from Monday,' said Mr Lodhi.

The minister said he was optimistic that better wheat supply to mills would stabilise the market and reduce flour price.

Mr Yousafzai denied the shortage of wheat and flour in the province and said Section 144 had been imposed to restrict the movement of wheat and flour out of the province.

He said the deputy commissioners had been told to check flour price on the market on a daily basis and conduct raids on mills and godowns to check hoarding.

The minister said the federal government recently decided to allow the export of semolina and fine flour (maida) to Afghanistan prompting the smuggling of flour under the garb of the export of the flour by-products.

He said the Punjab government had banned the wheat supply to KP in light of the flour smuggling...