No wheat crisis in Sindh, says minister

Sindh Assembly session requests briefing by education minister on controlling drugs on campus

KARACHI:

There will be no wheat crisis in the province and the flour price is likely to come down to Rs125 per kilogramme said Minister for Excise and Taxation and Parliamentary Affairs Mukesh Kumar Chawla.

Responding to MPAs' questions in the provincial assembly session on Friday, Chawla said, "Sindh government has fixed a procurement target of 1.4 million tons of wheat that will be achieved due to the bumper crop this year."

The food department is releasing wheat from government warehouses to flour mills with the directives to reduce the rates to Rs125/kg, he said.

During the session presided by Deputy Speaker Rehana Leghari, lawmakers from the ruling PPP and opposition PTI also had heated exchanged over the exorbitant price of wheat in Karachi.

Regarding the Excise and Taxation recovery, Chawla said that his department deposited the amount collected in taxes in the treasury. "We had deposited Rs5 billion in 2022," he said, adding that Rs3billion taxes were recovered in 2017, out of which Rs1.78 billion was generated only from Karachi city.

When asked about the tax on vehicles, the minister said that around 4.3 million vehicles were registered in Sindh and for the first time his department has also started registration of dumpers. About non-custom-paid vehicles, he added that the matter was being dealt by the Customs Department and the provincial government has nothing to do with it.

"We have received complaints about drugs being used inside educational institutions. I request the education minister to fix a day for a briefing on it," he said.

The issue of drugs being used in the educational institutions was raised by PTI MPA Dr Imran who said, "Why the government does not visit local schools." He added that over 187,100 deaths occur in a year in Pakistan due to drugs-related issues. The UNODC claims over 800,000 people, aged between 15 and 64, use heroin regularly.

While referring to some sections of media, he said that addicts commit suicides in affluent areas of Karachi due to drug overdose. "This is a burning issue which must be controlled before it spirals out of control," he said.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2023.