The Sindh cabinet has decided to release wheat from October 15 at a rate of Rs1,950 per 40 kilogrammes at par with the controlled rates of Punjab government to stabilise flour prices in the country.
Difference in grain rates helps smugglers, hoarders and speculators to earn illegal profits. The current price of the staple grain in Karachi's retail markets is around Rs2,400 per 40kgs, influx of wheat from government warehouses is expected to bring down prices.
The provincial food department starts releasing wheat procured during the harvest season from October 15 every year Food Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla told the meeting held under Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah at CM House on Tuesday.
Punjab government has started releasing wheat at a rate of Rs1,950 per 40kgs, he said briefing the meeting attended by all the provincial ministers, advisors to CM and special assistants, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah and Planning and Development Department Chairman Hassan Naqvi and officers concerned.
Chawla said that over 1.2 million metric tonnes of wheat stocks were available in the warehouses of the provincial food department.
The chief minister said that with the fixing uniform rates of wheat in the country can stabilise flour prices. Therefore, the cabinet approved the proposal to match Punjab's official rates for the wheat at Rs1,950 per 40kg.
Rehabilitation of nullahs affectees
Minister for Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah briefing the cabinet on rehabilitation of people evicted during anti-encroachment drives along the Gujjar, Orangi and Mehmoodabad nullah said that Karachi witnessed unprecedented rainfall during monsoon 2020 which caused massive urban flooding.
He added that the significant cause of urban flooding was choking of storm drains due to the vast extent of human settlements on major nullahs. Nasir Shah said that the Supreme Court ordered the cleaning of nullahs and removal of the encroachments [in and around these nullahs] with the support of the Sindh government.
The court also directed that the Sindh government would provide all necessary assistance for the rehabilitation of the people dislocated on account of removal of the encroachments.
Subsequently, a Provincial Coordination and Implementation Committee (PCIC) headed by Chief Minister Sindh was constituted on 15th September 2020.
Shah said that it was also decided that the resettlement support would be applicable to the occupants only. The compensation included rental support of Rs15,000 per month, per household for two years, on six monthly basis to be disbursed through biometric verification by the office of the KMC administrator.
Locally Displaced Persons (LDPs) would be given the first right of refusal to incentivise housing projects undertaken by Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority (NAPHDA) in Phase-I, which includes 100,000 units with the federal government.
Subsidy of Rs300,000 for each unit was decided. NAPHDA will earmark 30,000 units for Karachi LDPs in phase-I of their project. The land of the subject housing would be provided by the Sindh government free of cost. For the purpose, the Sindh government filed three separate petitions in the Supreme Court in which it was prayed to release Rs10 billions from the amount deposited by Bahria Town with the Supreme Court to the Sindh government.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2021.
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