ISLAMABAD: The flour mills’ association has announced to observe strike in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The association officials said that the flour mills have been instructed to procure wheat from South Punjab. Asim Raza complained about the additional payment of Rs350 per sack by the flour mills if they went to purchase wheat from South Punjab.

He demanded the authorities provide wheat to the flour mills in the Rawalpindi division from the local quota. Raza added that 20-kilogram sack of flour could not reach the market due to the non-cooperative behaviour of the Rawalpindi administration.

Asim Raza said that the stock of 15-kilogram sack of flour was sent to the market to facilitate the citizens.

Earlier in October, the flour mills association had threatened to go on strike, claiming that the entire quota of wheat was not being issued to the mills that could lead to a flour shortage.

In the same month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had issued directives for the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination to ask the Sindh government to immediately release wheat to flour mills to bring down the commodity’s price in the province.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry had said the provincial government halted the release of 1.2 million tonnes of wheat, driving its rate up.

He had claimed that wheat is the costliest in Sindh as compared to other provinces, noting the provincial government did not procure the grain previously.