PESHAWAR: Flour millers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa demanded the government to ensure provision of wheat quota on a regular basis to supply uninterrupted flour in the open market.

The demand was made during an executive committee meeting of Pakistan Flour Mills Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (PFMA-KP), which was chaired by its provincial chairman Iqbal Ahmad Khan here the association office on Monday.

Apart from Group Leader of the association Muhammad Naeem Butt, owners of flour mills were present during the meeting.

Participants of the meeting fully endorsed the free flour distribution scheme initiated by the government for poor deserving families under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

The association said a large number of poor and deserving people were provided free flour under the scheme. They, however, said that halting the regular wheat quota of flour mills has increased flour price by Rs400 per bag in the market.

On the other hand, the meeting said people have been faced hardships due to unavailability of flour in the market. KP in terms of wheat production is producing 20-25 percent wheat, which is insufficient to meet daily requirements, as public complaints have been increasing on a daily basis in this regard, the association said.

The flour millers said those poor and deserving people who are eligible for the free flour scheme that had been launched under BISP, when they went to distribution points the official concerned told them that mobile application said that they have already received flour, which is a matter of grave concern.

The association said if the same situation is retained then people and poor/deserving families will start to protest, which is against the government’s transparency policy.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023