ISLAMABAD, May 1: Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi here on Saturday said the ban on movement of wheat out of Punjab would remain intact till the province achieved the target of securing 3.5 million tons of wheat.
He was speaking at a press conference at the Punjab House after holding a closed-door meeting with federal food minister Yar Mohammad Rind, Sindh food minister Asif Mustafa Jatoi and Punjab food minister Chaudhry Mohammad Iqbal.
The chief minister, however, reiterated that there were no restrictions on flour movement from Punjab to other provinces, including Sindh, NWFP as well as Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir.
He said people in other provinces needed flour not wheat. Therefore, the ban on the movement of wheat was not affecting the masses but the 'wheat mafia' who, he added, wanted to keep the people hostage by hoarding the commodity in order to control its supply and prices.
He said the mafia was misleading the people that the ban on the movement of wheat had led to flour shortage which, he added, was a propaganda.
"We have set a wheat securing target of 3.5 million tons and the ban on the movement of wheat out of the province would remain operative till the target is achieved. So far, we have achieved 1.15 million tons."
In reply to a question regarding NWFP government's threat to cut power supply to Punjab, Mr Elahi said 2,000 metric tons of wheat was daily being transported to NWFP as usual and the people in that province faced no flour shortage.
"The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government should exercise patience and show responsibility by avoiding issuing such statements. Punjab is playing the role of the elder brother and has the patience to hear and give due respect to the criticism of other provinces, including the NWFP," he added.
The chief minister said his province was expecting production of 16.4 million tons this year as compared to 14.1 million tons last year.
Talking about the "wheat mafia", he said many wealthy people were interested to invest in the wheat business by buying as much wheat as possible. After acquiring the commodity, the mafia would either increase the flour prices through artificial shortage or would transport the commodity to Afghanistan.
The provincial government has also increased the support price of wheat from Rs150 per 40kg to Rs160 to save the farmers from financial damage by exercising "market-oriented strategy", he added.
He said there were four stockholders: the consumers, farmers, the government of Punjab and the traders. The government, he said, was giving top priority to preserving the interests of the people and farmers and was taking all necessary steps to ensure food security in the province without causing flour shortage.
Giving the example of 50,000 wheat Punjab had provided to Azad Kashmir during the wheat crisis last year, Mr Elahi said Punjab had always played a positive role in time of wheat crisis in any part of the country.
