Withdrawal of subsidy on wheat for G-B

Islamabad put off the decision after strong opposition from the Gilgit-Baltistan government, officials said.

GILGIT: The federal government has decided to not withdraw the subsidy on wheat in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), officials told the Express Tribune on Tuesday.

Islamabad put off the decision after strong opposition from the Gilgit-Baltistan government, the officials said.

The provincial government described the decision a blow to the people who lost standing crops, fruits, cattle and land to the floods, the official added.

If the subsidy is withdrawn the prices of wheat in the region would double and become out of reach of the poverty-stricken people.

At present, G-B receives around 1.5 million bags of wheat as its quota annually from the federal government. After a subsidy, a 40-kilogramme flour bag is available at Rs530 in G-B. If the subsidy is withdrawn the same quantity of the commodity would cost Rs1,200, the official said.

Earlier this year, Pakistan Agriculture and Storage Corporation (PASCO) had stopped the supply of wheat to the region stating that the G-B government had not paid the outstanding amount of Rs6 billion.

The official said that in view of the devastation caused by the recent floods, the decision to withdraw the subsidy on wheat would have multiplied the woes of the people who are reeling under the unprecedented price hike, power outages and harsh winter.

Meanwhile, the PML-N has criticised the federal government for providing subsidised wheat for everyone in the region, saying that only the poor have the right to avail this facility and not the rich.

“The facility of subsidised wheat should have been exclusively for low income families and not for everyone living in G-B,” Hafizur Rehman, the provincial president of PML-N told The Express Tribune.

“It is strange that well-off people purchase a discounted bag of flour,” he lamented. The rich of the area should realise that there are needy people who deserve to use this facility more than them.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2010.