Nanbai association demands rate hike

Following an increase in the price of flour, the Hazara Nanbai Association on Tuesday started a shutter down strike to push for their demand of increase in the price of stapple roti.

The closure of tanoors left tourtists, besides the local people going from place to place ion search of naans.

Nanbai bodies of various districts of the Hazara region also staged a protest against the price hike and said that the price of flour was continuously rising for the last six months. However, despite repeated meeting with deputy commissioners and other officers concerned, prices of flour kept ticking up.

While the flour price was rising, but the naan makers were told to keep rates pegged, simply because they were poor migrant workers while the flourmills owners were rich and well connected.

“How can we sell roti on a cheaper price while purchasing the wheat flour at highest rates,” said Haripur Nanbai Association President Syed Mushtaq Hussain while addressing protestors at Chaman Park Haripur. “We have many a times tried to meet K-P Food Minister Qalandar Khan Lodhi, but all in vain, the price of wheat flour has been doubled and still administration was forcing us to sell roti on old price, it was not possible,” Hussain said.

He further said that tanoor owners have pulled down shutters in the Hazara division and will fire their ovens only when the price hike issue was resolved.

The administration was not providing good quality flour, he said adding that local mills were providing substandard flour, while flour from Punjab was too expensive and out of reach of poor people.

In Abbottabad, while addressing the protestors, speakers said that 80Kgs wheat flour bag price has crossed Rs6,000 mark and selling roti for Rs10 rupees was now impossible. Buying wheat from open market and selling roti on officially controlled rate while paying inflated gas bills was a loss making venture, they said.

The naan makers demanded of the government to allow increase I the prices of roti otherwise they would continue their strike.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2020.