To facilitate masses during the approaching holy month of Ramazan, the Sindh government is likely to announce a relief package worth over Rs 2 billion tomorrow (Saturday) to ensure the provision of wheat flour at cheaper rates, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Under the ‘Ramazan Package’, the Sindh Food Department would release around 220,000 tonnes of wheat to the flour mills of the province at subsidised rates. The package, likely to be announced by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, would ensure availability of wheat flour at around Rs 200 to 220 per 10- kilogramme bag, well-placed sources told Pakistan Today.
According to the plan, 10-kg flour packages would be sold at special stalls established outside flourmills, while all deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners and mukhtiarkars will set up subsidised sale counters in all district and taluka headquarters, as the Sindh government would give a subsidy of Rs 1,625 per 100 kg bag to flour mills.
The flour bags would be available to the masses by All-Pakistan Flour Mills Association with proper labelling.
There are 170 flourmills in Sindh with 71 of them in Karachi alone, and each of them would establish four supply centres. The package will be implemented by the first of Ramazan and the departments concerned have been directed to take strict measures for enforcing the scheme. In this regard, Sindh Food Minister Nadir Magsi and Food Secretary Naseer Khan Jamali briefed the chief minister at the Chief Minister’s House on Thursday.
They informed Shah that the provincial food department had completed 94 percent procurement of wheat in the province and 1.403 million metric tonnes of wheat have been obtained. “There is a reserve of 1,513,000 tonnes of wheat in the province and the price per 40 kg in Sindh is Rs 975, in Punjab Rs 1,000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rs 975 and Balochistan Rs 1,022. Under the Ramazan Package, 220,000 tonnes of wheat will be supplied to the mill owners.”
Earlier, the chief minister, while presiding over a high-level meeting regarding the Ramazan Package, said that all measures will be taken to control hoarding, profiteering and price hikes at all trade centres, markets and wholesale and retail outlets, during the holy month of Ramazan.
“District, sub-divisional and taluka administration, law enforcement agencies, officers of food, bureau of supply and prices, and other departments should take prompt measures to curb the menace of hoarding, price hike and illegal profiteering and strict action taken against those whole sellers or retailers found violating the rules.”
The chief minister ordered that the administration should ensure sale of flour on subsidised prices, particularly in interior parts of the province, and curbing the trend of charging higher prices with effective measures. He also directed the Food Department to enhance its target of procurement of wheat up to 1.5 million metric tonnes as against the target of 1.3 million metric tonnes of wheat for Sindh fixed by the federal government.
