The owners of flour mills across Punjab, including Faisalabad, submitted a 5-point demand to the caretaker Chief Minister Punjab to end the current flour crisis. And it was jointly decided that if our legitimate demands are not accepted, the flour mills across Punjab will not raise the quota of wheat from February 13, while flour will not be supplied to the market on February 14.
The public is facing severe problems regarding the supply and availability of flour in the open market across Punjab, due to which the flour crisis is on the rise, as a result of which the owners of flour mills across Punjab, including Faisalabad, have joined hands, and to solve this expected flour crisis, the caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab has been appealed to take notice for which 5 demands have been presented by the flour milling sector. In which immediate termination of actions against flour mills by the Secretary of Food Department, inspection of flour mills by the competent authority under the departmental rules and regulations and in case of any omissions, it should be carried out in accordance with the rules, abolishing trucking stations of sale of flour, or, if the Government wants to establish such stations, providing adequate security and facilitating the purchase of flour. Similarly, according to the rules, we are bound to give the government wheat flour at the mills gate, if the flour is taken from us at the flour mills gate, after that we will not be responsible. Along with this, the ban on inter-provincial and inter-district delivery of flour mills’ private wheat products by the Food Department of Punjab is included immediately.
In this regard, President of Faisalabad Flour Mills Association Chaudhry Muhammad Shafiq Anjum said that due to the inappropriate behavior of the newly appointed Secretary Food Department of Punjab, there is severe tension between the flour milling industry and the Food Department. Due to which the flour milling industry is under severe pressure, the supply of flour in the market has been adversely affected due to lack of conducive business environment, and people are facing difficulty in getting their basic food.
He further said that the trucking station established for the sale of flour is unsafe due to inadequate security and looting and fights have become the norm. Moreover, the food department has issued new rules for the sale of flour at shops and trucking stations, which has further increased the difficulties of buyers and shopkeepers. And along with this, flour shopkeepers have refused to buy flour.
The President of Flour Mills Association further said that instead of normalizing the situation, more than 13 flour mills are closed and the director of Punjab Food Department has refused to listen to their appeal. The Food Department of Punjab has relaxed the procedure of sale of cow flour but has not abolished them yet. The industry is being abused by rounding up flour mills against SOPs, and selling flour against rules. We are running trucking stations at our own expense to ease the hardships of the public. The attitude of running the industry should be adopted with us, not the attitude of shutting down the industry should be adopted.
He clarified that other provinces, especially Balochistan, also have the right to be supplied with flour. A meeting of the provincial cabinet of Punjab was held yesterday, in which flour has been put in the category of basic essential goods, after which the flour will be confiscated by the government and auctioned if it is sent outside the province. We have serious reservations about this and it should be removed immediately.
Chaudhry Shafiq Anjum also expressed his concerns on this matter; the Punjab government has not yet announced the support price of wheat, while the support price of wheat has been announced by the Sindh government. But the food department of Punjab is still in the process of purchasing Bardana, even though the support price of wheat should be announced in Punjab as well.
