ISLAMABAD: The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has decided to release Rs14 billion to the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) for purchasing wheat in order to supply subsidised wheat flour to the people of the region.
The AJK government in this connection has called an emergency meeting of the cabinet in a bid to take effective measures to deal with the skyrocketing prices of wheat flour in all of AJK, especially in the hilly and remote areas.
According to the data presented by the government, flour was available in the remote and snowy areas in abundance and efforts were being taken to ensure its delivery to the people.
According to the AJK government’s data, the problem is not the shortage of flour but the existing price difference. The price of government-sponsored wheat flour in the market is Rs 2,500 per 40kg, while the commodity in the open market is being sold at Rs 6,200 per 40kg.
The consumers used to purchase wheat flour from the open market now, after the massive increase in the prices, have started buying government-subsidized flour, as a result, the demand has gone up manifold which has created some kind of panic among the masses and to deal with the problem, the cabinet is all set to pay Rs14 billion to the PASSCO for purchasing wheat.
According to the data, the AJK region annually was consuming around 520,000 tons of wheat, of which, the government of AJK was purchasing 300,000 tons of wheat which is 60 percent of the annual requirement, 30 percent wheat was being provided by the private sector and 10 percent is locally produced in AJK.
Due to the increase in the price of imported wheat this year, the government is providing a total subsidy of Rs14 billion on the provision of wheat flour. During the past couple of months, the AJK has witnessed a significant increase in the number of buyers of subsidized flour and people who used to buy one bag of flour are buying five extra bags due to the rising inflation and fear of shortage of food commodities.
On the one hand, recommendations related to setting up a mechanism to limit the subsidy of flour to deserving people are under consideration. Prime Minister Sardar Tanvir Ilyas Khan has requested the federal government for a supplementary grant for the payment of bill to the PASSCO and releasing of the share of money the federal government had slashed by imposing budgetary cuts.
According to the officials of the AJK government, so far no response has been received from the federal government as a result the AJK government is trying to continue the supply of wheat by paying PASSCO on one hand and making a policy of providing targeted subsidized flour on the other hand in view of the hardships of the public.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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