Sindh government stops wheat movement to other provinces

The Sindh government is in no mood, against the directive of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Minfa), to allow movement of wheat to other provinces. Sources said that the provincial government would not impose a ban on inter-district wheat movement within the province.
However, the borders with Punjab and Balochistan have been sealed, with the deployment of food inspectors, to check the movement of wheat across the border. They said that the wheat procurement process was in full swing in the province and the Sindh government had already sealed the borders to contain smuggling of wheat to other provinces.
Recently, they said, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Minfa) had written a letter to the provincial government for not imposing ban on inter-provincial and inter-district movement of wheat. But the provincial government has turned down the centres directive as the ban on inter-provincial would ultimately lead to hoarding of wheat, they said.
Officials said that they have reports that dealers were purchasing wheat at low prices against the government fixed wheat support price of Rs 950 per 40-kg. The federal government did nothing when the Punjab government had imposed ban on wheat movement at the time when Sindh was facing acute shortage of wheat, they added.
Now, if the Sindh government lifted the ban on inter-provincial movement, the profiteers and hoarders would become active and create wheat shortage in the province by smuggling and other illegal means, and the common people would have to bear the brunt, they added.
Moreover, Punjab government had announced to give 50,000 tons wheat to Sindh, but it only handed over 20,000 tons, while the provincial authorities in Punjab government had refused to give the remaining wheat, they said, and questioned about the interference of the centre at that time. They said that procurement process had begun in all regions of province including Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad, and the procurement process would continue till achievement of the target.