Wheat crisis looms large in Rawalpindi
Rising wheat prices, reduction in quota of flour mills and the abolition of flour subsidy has created a flour crisis in the Rawalpindi district.
In the open market, the price of a 20-kilogram flour bag has gone up from Rs850 to a record Rs1,300.
On the other hand, the Nanbai association has demanded that the price of bread be fixed at Rs20 and declared that they cannot sell cheap bread by buying expensive flour.
Flour mill owners have also increased the price of flour while the district administration has failed to curb wheat smuggling to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan.
Around 60 price control magistrates of the Rawalpindi district have also failed to control the flour price hike and stop wheat smuggling.
With the end of Ramazan subsidy on flour and shortage of wheat supply, flour crisis has arisen across the Rawalpindi district.
The Grocery Merchant Association warned that the price of a 20-kg bag of flour may go up to Rs1,500 in the coming week as dealers and mills have also reduced the supply of flour.
Flour Dealers’ Association President Zahoor Bhatti said that the Punjab government has withdrawn subsidy provided to flour mills.
He said that wheat was supplied to flour mills at the rate of Rs1,950 per quintal but with the closure of this quota, flour mills are buying wheat from the open market for Rs2,200 per quintal due to which the ex-mill price of flour has been increased to Rs1,340 while the retail flour bag in the open market has been increased to Rs1,380.
Nanbai Association president Shafiq Qureshi said that a 10-kg flour bag in the open market ranged between Rs1,380 and Rs1,400. The sack of 40-kg fine flour has been increased from Rs5,200 to Rs6,300. The sack of normal flour has been increased from Rs5,500 to Rs6,570 per 40-kg bag.
He added that "they cannot sell cheap bread by buying expensive flour and demanded that the price of bread should be increased from Rs15 to Rs20. He said that the association has also requested the deputy commissioner to convene an urgent meeting to increase the price of bread.
Meanwhile, Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq visited check posts set up on the Motorway-GT Road to curb wheat smuggling and ordered that wheat smuggling from Rawalpindi to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa should not be allowed under any circumstances.
Meanwhile, the food department said that they foiled an attempt to smuggle 240 sacks of wheat in an operation near the motorway and seized the truck.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2022.