May 23, 2006	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 24, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 22: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Balochistan government to work out a feasible policy for passing on benefit of wheat subsidy to common people. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad also asked the provincial government to consider holding a meeting with the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) and other officials concerned to adopt a mechanism in this regard.

The bench was hearing a complaint that despite release of flour on subsidised prices, flour-mill owners, in collusion with government officials, were selling the commodity in open market at high prices, thus depriving common man of the benefit of the subsidy introduced in 1987.

“Who is pocketing money and why people are not getting flour at subsidised rate,” the CJ observed.

Counsel for mill-owners, Tariq Mehmood, explained to the bench that the subsidy was being spent on transportation of wheat from the Punjab and Sindh.

The Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation purchases wheat flour on behalf of the Balochistan government at Rs415 per 40 kilograms compared to Rs370 in the open market.

Mill-owners receive wheat from the provincial government at Rs1,130 per 100 kg and are allowed to add Rs110 bagging and grinding cost and sell flour to retailers at Rs1,223 per 100 kg while consumers get it at Rs1,303 per 100 kg.

Acting Secretary Food Sher Ali told the court that the provincial government intended to register flour dealers to ensure that they maintained flour prices at affordable level. He said that the subsidy was meant to encourage growers to continue growing wheat in the province.

During the hearing, the CJ referred to a report of the Ombudsman who had held that malpractices in the provincial food department should be checked and that benefit of the subsidy would reach the common man only if the food department followed certain policies and a certain mechanism.