Parvez ups mills wheat quota, doubles flour sale points.

LAHORE -- In a bid to overcome the flour crisis, Chief Minister Parvez Elahi has issued directions for an increase in the wheat quota of flour mills, doubling the number of subsidised flour sale points. On the other hand, the food department has launched a crackdown on the millers misusing their wheat quota.

The CM's directive to increase the release of wheat from the food department stores to 26,000 tonnes per day against the earlier quota of 21,000 tonnes per day came after reports that the price of flour from Chakkis shot up to Rs130 per kg in the province.

Mr Elahi said that at least 1.84m flour bags of 10kg each should be made available for the public at official rates of Rs650 per bag across the province, hoping that the measure would help bring down the flour and wheat prices in the open market.

Meanwhile, the food authorities launched a crackdown against the flour mill owners misappropriating the wheat being supplied by the government at subsidized rates in the province.

Food dept suspends licences of 80 flour mills for misappropriating wheat quota

Food Secretary Nadir Chattha said, in a statement on Sunday, that licences of 80 mills had been suspended for discontinuing flour supply to the market despite receiving their quota of wheat from the government. He said the wheat quota of hundreds of mills was suspended because they were selling flour prepared from the quota wheat at the rates higher than those prescribed by the government. He added that 35...