26 February 2004	Thursday	05 Muharram 1425

LAHORE, Feb 25: The Pakistan Flour Millers Association and the food department on Wednesday decided to designate 200 shops and five mills' gates in the city to provide a 20kg bag for Rs210.

According to the plan, the shops will display banners also having telephone numbers of the PFMA and department representatives in case of any complaints. The millers have been given 48 hours to establish the designated sale points.

"It would be easier for the department to monitor these 205 points daily," said Punjab Food Director Jawad Rafiq. He added that these points would work as deterrent against price-hike in their respective areas, and stabilize prices.

However, the department would continue monitoring both supply and price position on daily basis till April 15. The department has convened a meeting of the millers of Sheikhupura and may replicate the same arrangements there.

Meanwhile, the department and the millers have also agreed to increase wheat release to 20,000 tons from the current 15,000 tons a day to compensate millers for Muharram holidays. The quota of the three holidays, which is 45,000 tons, would be staggered in the next nine days to avoid any shortage.

In case of failure of the new arrangements, the department has threatened that it will appoint inspectors at every mills to ensure maximum grinding and supply of flour to the city.

The decision to sell flour at designated points has been taken after the joint teams of the Punjab Food Department, flour millers and the district administration conducted raids in city to monitor flour supply.

Despite these officials efforts, artificial shortage created by the retailers is going on uninterrupted. The price of loose flour ranged between Rs13 and Rs14 per kilogram till Wednesday. However, the price of 20kg bag came down a bit as a result of raids.

According to a flour market observer: "The retailers triggered the current cost crisis. Millers did squeeze supply to some extent, but it was not enough to lead to the kind of crisis that flour prices has suffered.

By selling loose flour at Rs14, the suppliers can make Rs280 for a 20kg bag instead of selling it at Rs215 as decided by the government."

He said the district government could only challan violators, which had become an ineffective measure to check fleecing. However, the government had taken the right step to establish 205 sale points in the city, he added.

The government must learn that by involving unbridled private sector this year, it had hurt the consumers beyond their capacity, according to a consumer, who urged it to prepare a comprehensive plan to avoid crisis next year.

Meanwhile, the City District Government has made arrangements for making 12,000 subsidized flour bags available at 153 sale points in 150 union councils every week against the chief minister's monthly quota of 126,000 bags.

The commodity will be available once in a week at every union council at Rs30 less than the fixed retail price against the coupons issued to 65,000 deserving families.

District Officer (Revenue) Malik Muhammad Bakhsh said the coupons issued for the purchase of subsidized flour in January had not been utilized till date, indicating that the flour shortage was artificial. He said arrangements were being made to issue the coupons for February, March and April to 300 to 500 deserving families in each union council.