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Police also claim share in price increase:
Flour shortage
KARACHI, April 4: Transporters are paying Rs30 to
50 on a 100-kg bag while bringing the harvested
wheat from interior of Sindh to Karachi which is
one of the factors contributing to a hike in flour
prices.
Police check-posts at Sakrand, Khipro and Sanghar
stop the trucks carrying wheat bags and demand
money citing a ban on inter-district movement of
wheat.
"There is no ban on inter-district wheat movement
in the province," a leader of flour mills
association said. Every year, the Sindh Food
Department enforces this ban to ensure success of
its procurement operations.
Despite the restriction, the procurement operation
in Sindh during last season proved a failure as
farmers prefer to sell their commodity to private
traders who offer higher rates than official
prices. There had been a lot of outcry against
this restriction.
This year, the ban has not been enforced, but the
Food Department stopped private transporters from
lifting wheat from farmers and carrying it to
other districts "till the government target of
half a million tons of wheat procurement is
achieved."
The police are taking full advantage of this
restriction byresorting to extortion. Sometimes,
the transporters have to pay money at more than
one check-posts on their way to Karachi.
City Nazim Naimatullah Khan has drawn the Sindh
government's attention to this extortion and has
demanded abolition of 'unofficial levy'.
The Food Department has also posted one inspector
on each of the 78 flour mills to check the
quantity of wheat being ground. "They end up with
Rs1,000 to 1,500 payment every week" a flour mill
owner said.
Flour millers claim that they are being forced to
pay roughly one rupee to Rs1.50 extra on every
kilogram of wheat. This, they say, is one of the
main factors leading to a hike in flour price in
the city.
But in a letter addressed to the Sindh chief
secretary, the city nazim has claimed of bringing
down the retail flour price to Rs13-14 from Rs18
per kilogram. On his instructions, the district
government carried out raids on retail outlets and
arrested 50 traders found indulged in
over-charging.
"Retailers say that wholesalers were supplying
them flour at Rs12.75 per kilogram," Naimatullah
Khan informed the chief secretary in his official
communication. One of the reasons for high price
of flour being demanded by the wholesalers is that
local traders are being forced to pay at least one
rupee extra on every kilogram of wheat.
The nazim has urged the chief secretary to
activate provincial government in monitoring the
practice by wholesalers and flour mills, and also
ensure abolition of the unofficial levy on wheat
transportation.
As wheat starts trickling in from the fields into
Karachi market, the wholesale prices are reported
to have come down to Rs960 to Rs980 on a 100-kg
bag. Market sources expect an stability in wheat
prices in the next few weeks as harvesting picks
up in Sindh by the end of April and begins in
Punjab.
But coming Ramazan, in mid-October, again demands
a high alert from the administration as Karachi
remains a captive market of 14 million population
and is located far away from wheat growing areas.
A nexus of corrupt officials and unscrupulous
traders and millers exploit the situation during
Ramazan.
This year, too, the prices of flour had started
creeping up just before Ramazan and the wheat
shortage assumed proportion of a crisis in late
December. In a way, a wheat crisis still lingers
on and the flour price in open market is still
higher than the officially fixed price of Rs12 per
kilogram.
The DAWN |
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Pakissan.com; Advisory Point
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