On the assurance of addressing their concerns by Punjab Food Minister Abdul Aleem Khan, the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) announced on Tuesday to end their strike continued for the last two days.
A 10-member delegation of the millers led by PFMA Central Chairman Asim Raza Ahmad and Punjab Chapter Chairman Abdul Rauf Mukhtar called on the senior minister to discuss their issues.
It was decided that the mills will not make any increase in the price of flour bag till Eid-ul-Fitr and the districts administration will not raid any flour mill under the anti-hoarding law, however, the food department will have access to these mills.
Aleem Khan said that flour mills would be allowed for 7 days wheat storage instead of 72 hours. He said the permission in this regard was being granted but the flour mills would declare their stocks. He called the chief secretary Punjab during the meeting and asked him to convey the new instructions to the division and district level administration.
The minister said this year wheat was being bought but the government intends to create a new mechanism for the affairs of flour mills for which the concerned stakeholders should be on the same page. He said for this purpose a joint meeting of the food department and the Flour Mills Association will be held immediately after Eid. The Senior Minister clarified that the government's job should not be to procure raw materials but to regulate and facilitate flour mills. He said the Punjab government spends a huge amount on procurement of wheat while storing and re-shifting is another exercise. He added that a new strategy would be worked out for the procurement of wheat and "bar dana" in the coming years.
He asked the officials of Flour Mills Association to formulate their proposals in the light of which the next road map will be designed. The meeting decided that after Eid flour mills of KPK will also be given wheat but the KPK food department would buy wheat in Punjab in collaboration with Punjab government.
Central Chairman Flour Mills Association Asim Raza, Provincial President Abdul Rauf Mukhtar, Mian Nadeem Nisar, Iftikhar Muttoo, and Khurram Shehzad informed about the problems of flour mills in different districts. Liaquat Ali Khan, Mian Riaz, Hafiz Ahmed, Farrukh Shehzad and Mian Naseem also said that the situation has worsened in Sargodha, Multan, Gujrat, and Kasur districts where flour mills do not have wheat for threshing. Meanwhile, Secretary Food Punjab Waqas Mahmood after the meeting with the millers during a media talk said that 85 percent of the wheat procurement target has been completed in the province. He said that 3.75 million tons of wheat has so far been procured while the target of 4.5 million tons will also be achieved very soon.
He said flour prices will be reviewed after Eid-ul-Fitr keeping in view the prevailing market prices of wheat. He also said that now the district administration will not interfere in the affairs of flour mills.
Comments
Comments are closed.