PESHAWAR: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce (FPCCI) Regional Coordinator Sartaj Ahmed Khan apprised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker minister for Food Haji Fazal Elahi about the serious problems faced by the local population owing to insufficient quota of wheat for district Chitral.

Sartaj expressed fear that the famine-like crisis will be raised in if the issue of wheat quota in Chitral isn’t resolved promptly.

On the occasion, the minister assured the delegation that they will take immediate steps to resolve basic food issues.

According to the details, the representative delegation of Chitral, led by Sartaj Ahmed Khan, met the caretaker provincial food minister.

Regional Secretary Engineer Khalid Haider and Chitral’s political figure Mujeeb Ahmed were accompanied by FPCCI regional coordinator.

In the meeting, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Caretaker Minister for Food was apprised of the insufficient wheat quota situation in Chitral and the problems arising from it.

The FPCCI regional coordinator said that Chitral is a remote area and people are already facing many problems due to difficult roads.

The quota of wheat in both Upper Chitral and Lower Chitral is very low to meet food commodity requirements for the entire population, Sartaj said.

He said that each of the two Union Councils of Chitral is getting only ten bags of wheat in a week, which considering the ratio of the population is not equal to a camel’s mouth.

Sartaj said that the current quota should be increased as per proportion to the population, otherwise the situation may turn into famine.

He urged the wheat should be distributed amongst the general public first from government godowns, then the remaining wheat should be given to the mill owners because most of the people of Chitral follow the traditional way of buying wheat grain and grinding it at their own will.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023