Officials told to meet wheat target in two days

Sindh minister says flour mills may only stock 30,000 bags

KARACHI: Sindh chief secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah has ordered all relevant officials in the province to meet the wheat procurement target within the next two days.

During a meeting regarding the purchase of wheat on Monday,  divisional commissioners told the chief secretary that 90 per cent of the desired wheat amount had been purchased in Hyderabad, 89 per cent in Mirpurkhas, 89 per cent in Sukkur, 80 per cent in Shaheed Benazirabad and 92 per cent in Larkana.

Meanwhile, Shaheed Benazirabad divisional commissioner Syed Mohsin Ali Shah informed the meeting that 200,000 bags of wheat were recovered from a godown in the division.

Subsequently, the chief secretary directed the officials to include the wheat recovered from godowns in the purchase targets, which must be met within the designated time frame. He further directed the Sindh Food Authority secretary to visit Shaheed Benazirabad to review the situation.

Separately, Sindh Food Minister Hari Ram Kishori Lal reminded the officials that flour mills were only allowed to stock 30,000 bags of wheat. Any amount higher than this would be considered hoarding and should be seized, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2020.