HYDERABAD, Aug 12: District Nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman has called upon the Sindh food secretary to restore the wheat quota of chakkis for first week of August and also release the quota for the current week.

In a communication dated Aug 11, he urged the food secretary to consider a request of the Hyderabad Atta Chakki Owners' Social Welfare Association in this regard. The nazim said the president of the association had called on him and informed him that the government had reduced the wheat quota of 236 chakkis of the district by 20 per cent, which was insufficient to meet the demand.

He said the secretary should withdraw the decision to reduce the wheat quota and allocate the quota on monthly basis, instead of weekly basis. Meanwhile, chakki owners held a protest meeting outside the office of the district food controller on Thursday against the cut in the wheat quota of the chakkis.

Speaking on the occasion, the president of the chakki owners' association, Nawab Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Chacha Shabbir, Khalil Ahmad Qureshi and other office-bearers said chakki owners of the district were being pushed against the wall by officials of the food department.

They said the chakki owners were protesting against the reduction in their wheat quota for 12 days but government functionaries had taken no notice of the matter.

Mr Ali said the chakki owners would not allow the food officials to succeed in conspiracies against people of Hyderabad and added that they would continue to supply flour to consumers. He regretted that chakkis were being deprived of their wheat quota but the officials had supplied ample wheat to 10 flour mills.