Despite the start of wheat harvest season across the country and its expected record production, an impression of shortage of the commodity is being spread by profiteers and hoarders so that the government would be forced to start issuing subsidised wheat quotas.
Due to these black-marketing tactics, the price of wheat has gone up to Rs6,000 per maund while that of flour has reached Rs170 per kilo which has seriously affected the government's official wheat purchase target.
According to sources, there is a possibility that the official target will be missed. They added that due to non-availability of wheat in Punjab, flour mills started closing down in most of the districts and despite the expected bumper wheat crop, a flour crisis has started to emerge.
The sources said that the Punjab Food Department devised such a strategy that left the businessman behind and made the black marketing of wheat so attractive that heroin and hashish smugglers got allegedly involved and flour mill owners were forced to buy the most expensive wheat.
Rawalpindi was the worst affected in this case. After several attempts to contact the food department offices failed, the district administration was approached and apprised of the impending crisis, upon which the district administration intervened.
Permits were issued but surprisingly, no support was received from the food department when the vehicles with permits were stopped. When those vehicles reached Chakwal and Jhelum districts of Rawalpindi Division from the whole of Punjab, they were stopped and transporting wheat with permits was discouraged, which was resolved with the help of the district administration.
It happened to some extent but the district administration was also surprised by the attitude.
Due to such measures, the rate of the commodity skyrocketed, which created an impression of wheat shortage across the country severely affecting the government's official wheat purchase target, which now appears unlikely to be achieved.
According to the sources, this was done as part of a well-thought-out strategy to create such conditions that the government would be forced to start issuing subsidised wheat quotas so that the Punjab Food Department officials could benefit from it.
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