January 14, 2008	Monday	Muharram 04, 1429

MULTAN, Jan 13: As the country is in the grip of flour crisis and people are facing great difficulties in purchasing it, the City District Government of Multan has wasted no time in using the staple as “a means to achieve political end”.

The PML-Q is allegedly using the commodity as a tool for election campaign.

A few days ago, the CDGM at a meeting presided over by District Coordination Officer Sattar A. Sheikh decided to set up 61 flour sale points in Multan’s as many urban union councils in the light of the Punjab government’s directions.

Malik Nasim Husain Labar, a PPP-backed union council 43 nazim, said there were 16 UC nazims who did not belong to the PML-Q and all of them had been disallowed to monitor the flour distribution process.

According to the notification, he said, the flour would be distributed under the supervision of the union council nazims concerned. Initially, flour carts were sent to his office but soon they were shifted to another place and the responsibility of flour distribution was transferred to the PML-Q-backed candidate whom he defeated in the local election, he said.

He said the city district government had directed the union council nazims not to sell flour to those people supporting the opposition parties and those who did not promise votes to the PML-Q.

The PPP’s Dr Javed Siddiqui (PP-197), Abdul Qadir Gillani (NA-150) and Salahuddin Dogar (NA-149) alleged at a press conference that the district nazim and entire administration had authorised the UC nazims to distribute flour and they were helping only those people who promised votes in return of flour. Many deserving people had been made to return empty-handed.

The nazims, they alleged, were giving flour to their favourite people or to those shopkeepers who were charging the customers at will.

The PPP hopefuls said it was none other than the former ruling party which was responsible for the flour crisis and the interim Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Prince Isa Jan, had also held the food ministry blameworthy owing to its wrong policies. By using the flour as a political tool, they regretted, the CDGM had made the situation worse for the people.

According to the PPP activists, the district government had issued notice to a flour miller on the pretext that his mill was producing substandard flour. But the fact was that the administration was ‘penalising’ the mill owner because of his affiliations with the PPP, they revealed.

They said they had tried to complain about the matter to the DCO, but the latter was avoiding to meet them.

City District Nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar and DCO Sattar A. Sheikh were not available for a comment.