Flour mills refuse to buy 'rotten wheat'

Negotiations between millers, food department collapse

RAWALPINDI:

Despite mounting pressure from the Rawalpindi Food Department, flour mills across the Rawalpindi division—including Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jhelum, and Attock—have refused to purchase 32,000 sacks of allegedly rotten, blackened wheat deemed hazardous to public health.

A total of 870 small-scale flour mill (atta chaki) owners in Rawalpindi have also rejected the government's offer to buy this substandard wheat at reduced prices.

However, according to sources, the government has been insisting that food department officials purchase the entire stock at full rates.

The food department proposed that mill owners mix 85 per cent new, clean wheat with 15 per cent of the contaminated stock without any regulatory scrutiny.

However, negotiations between flour mill owners and the department have collapsed, as millers flatly refused to use the decayed wheat for flour production.

So far, only one flour mill has lodged a complaint with Punjab's Anti-Corruption Department, while four others are preparing to follow suit.

Industry representatives stated that while they had initially agreed to accept wheat mixed with minor soil contaminants (since their cleaning systems remove dirt without affecting flour quality), they cannot process rotten, foul-smelling wheat.

Flour millers also alleged that they are being pressured to use the unfit wheat.