January 22, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 12, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 21: Chakki atta continues to remain a rare commodity in markets and with retailers. Those who have stocks and fear arrest are charging Rs24-25 per kilogram.

However, retailers having no fear of the price checking campaign are demanding Rs26-30 per kilo, saying they have procured wheat at Rs2,400 per 100kg bag. Chakki flour is excluded from the official price list.

The open market is out of wheat stocks, but people who had resorted to hoarding are selling the flour at Rs2,400 per 100kg bag.

Karachi Atta Chakki Association president Abdul Sattar says that about 95 per cent of the chakkis in the city have shut their operations as there is no wheat available in the open market. Besides, chakki-owners have been waiting for the release of their quotas by the food department.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad has already asked the Food Department to provide wheat at the official rate to all the chakkis.He said he met the food department director on Monday and he assured him of an increased supply of wheat. He said the director had asked the association to give him names of more chakki-owners who had the licences so that their quota registration could be completed.

“The city has around 3,000 chakkis, but only 128 get a wheat quota of 70 bags per chakki per month for making flour,” he said.

He said the open market had no wheat stocks but people who had it were demanding Rs2,400 for a 100kg bag.

Wholesalers and retailers, however, said that no wheat was arriving from Punjab after the imposition of a ban on wheat movement by the Punjab government, so it was hard to quote any specific rate.

As the chakki rate has not been fixed, retailers are free to charge any rate and city government officials are not monitoring prices. Their efforts are aimed at ensuring the supply of the government-sponsored flour at Rs17.50 per kg.

The city government’s price control chief, Matanat Ali Khan, claimed that the situation about flour availability and price had been controlled, especially in former District Central and in localities such as Malir, Landhi, Bin Qasim and Quaidabad.

In the early days of price checking, 90 people were being fined daily and now the number had declined. On Monday, only 20 retailers were fined Rs20,200 for overcharging.

He said from January 9 to 18, 306 people had been fined a total of Rs726,000 and 40 retailers sent to jail for overcharging.

He added that Rangers were accompanying city government officials during the campaign. On Jan 18, some 2,000 wheat bags of 100kg each were seized from a flour mill in Site and Rs50,000 was fined on the miller.

A flour miller said shopkeepers were lifting the government-sponsored flour at Rs17 per kg, and there was a considerable decline in the rush of buyers at flour mills.

“Almost all the flour quantity produced by a mill on a single day is being lifted by shopkeepers and other people at the outside stalls,” he said, adding that the situation was now under control.