LAHORE: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday while taking notice of price hike of wheat and flour in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province directed the concerned authorities to take immediate measures to control it, besides increasing supply from Punjab province.

The prime minister chaired a meeting to review procurement and supply and demand of wheat in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release. During the meeting, the prime minister expressed his satisfaction over the current bumper wheat yield in the country and desired practical steps to provide its benefits to the farmers.

The meeting was apprised that KP was being provided with 300,000 flour bags of 10 kg on daily basis.

Call for increasing wheat support price

The meeting was attended by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javaid Abbasi, PM’s Adviser Engineer Amir Muqam, Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi, federal secretaries, chief secretaries and other senior officials.

The prime minister directed for increasing in the supply bulk and directed the chief secretaries of KP and Punjab provinces to jointly devise a mechanism in this regard.

The prime minister said that hoarding and smuggling of wheat would not be tolerated in any manner and directed for strict action against the hoarders so that the supply of basic requirements of atta to the general public could be ensured without any hindrance.

The meeting was further informed that the province of Punjab would soon complete the wheat procurement target. The chief secretary KP informed that the province was receiving a supply of 80,000 tonns of wheat from PASCO.