LAHORE, March 7: The flour situation eased a bit here on Sunday with millers maintaining a smooth supply to their 200 fair-price shops and the food department closely watching both the millers and the shops. However, retailers have increased the flour price arbitrarily. The price ranged from Rs220 to 225 per 20kg in the city against the officially prescribed Rs215 to 217.

In fact, no one from the government is ready to take responsibility for this aspect of the problem. The food department insists that price is a responsibility of the City District Government.

On the other hand, the city government says that food management has not been devolved. The consumers continue to suffer the results of this confusion. The provincial government's ability to manoeuvre supplies has been severely curtailed by its limited stocks, says a market watcher.

Its stocks will hardly meet the provincial requirements for the current year, leave alone the national.

The food department has a stock of 690,000 tons which is barely enough to meet the demand of flour in the 40 days before the arrival of new crop, which normally occurs after April 15. Besides, the provincial government is also supplying 5,000 tons to Azad Kashmir and providing wheat for the chief minister's so-called Sasta Atta Scheme.

Market watchers claim that the stocks were exhausted in the private sector because of a high profit margin this year, which left the country with official stocks only.

Any delay in the arrival of fresh wheat could spark a serious flour crisis in the Punjab and the rest of the country. The availability of flour could be a problem in the days to come if the government failed to monitor the demand and supply position closely and act accordingly.

According to an official of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), there is already a shortage of flour in the market. People are complaining about unavailability and high prices.

It is largely because of the official policy to lessen its role in the trade, withdraw a Rs4 billion subsidy and pass on the burden of transportation and storage charges to millers.

The current price is a cumulative result of the official policy and the induction of profit-driven private sector in the trade, he insisted. An official of the food department, however, denied the impression that there was a shortage of flour in the market.

He said a sufficient quantity of wheat flour was available. About the price hike, he said, some traders were trying to exploit the situation in view of the high prices in other provinces.

He claimed that the government was trying its best to control the price of flour. He vowed stern action against those selling flour at inflated prices on the pretext of a shortage.

Referring to print media reports regarding shortage and black-marketing of wheat, he said that careful scrutiny had revealed that the situation had been caused by hoarding at wholesale and retail levels.

Meanwhile, the Sasta Atta Scheme is in a limbo as the provincial food department has still not notified a price for it. An official of Pakistan Flour Mills Association's Punjab chapter said the millers could not provide flour under the scheme in the absence of an official notification.