Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), Punjab), on Monday urged the government to enforce a uniform policy on issuance of wheat to flour mills throughout the country. It also urged the government to fix uniform rates of wheat flour in all the provinces, and trade of wheat and flour within the country should be free of any restrictions.
However, strict measures should be taken to discourage its smuggling. These demands were raised by the association at an emergent meeting following the deployment of rangers at flour mills.
The meeting was chaired by Punjab PFMA Chairman Habib-ur-Rehman Leghari and veteran flour miller Haji Muhammad Bashir, Vice Chairman Mian Muhammad Riaz, Sheikh Shahid Bashir, Rana Ahmad Ali, Haji Muhammad Naseem, former Chairman Khaliq Arshad, Haji Maqsud and former Vice-Chairman Haji Abdul Waheed attended the meeting.
The meeting welcomed the deployment of rangers, as in its view, it would improve the flour shortage situation. However, it regretted that the deployment in one night created confusion and insecurity among the flour millers in different cities.
Habib-ur-Rehman Leghari said the flour millers should be provided with a comprehensive policy. "Issuance of fresh directives and change of policy after every four hours has badly affected the market mechanism," he added. He pointed out that the flour millers were not against the deployment of the rangers, but it should be done under a comprehensive policy.
He said the prevailing flour shortage was created by ad hoc policies of the government, exporting of wheat and in the process neglecting the domestic requirements, delay in import of wheat and not supplying wheat to flour mills in accordance to its requirement. Leghari was of the view that flour shortage was not a problem, and added, in fact, the problem existed in not taking steps to remove the shortage of wheat.
"Eid holidays, riots after killing of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and electricity shortage were other factors behind the flour crisis," he added.
The meeting, through a unanimous resolution, urged the government to announce a clear-cut policy of inter-district and inter-provincial transportation of wheat and wheat flour. It also said that the mills were ready to supply flour, produced from the wheat supplied by the government, but it should be free to sell flour, produced from wheat acquired from open market, to anyone.
Leghari also expressed the hope that the government and flour millers would soon overcome the crisis through joint efforts. Meanwhile, a delegation of the flour millers also called on the Punjab Chief Secretary and forwarded their demands to him.
Former Pakistan Flour Mills Association (Punjab Zone) Chairman Khaliq Arshad said that they had expressed the feelings of the millers to the Chief Secretary. "During the meeting with the Chief Secretary, it was decided that supply and availability of wheat flour in the province would be monitored on daily basis, as was the practice during the month of Ramazan-ul-Mubarak," he added.
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