August 31, 2008	Sunday	Sha'aban 28, 1429

PESHAWAR, Aug 30: People in Frontier will be paying double the amount consumers in the province of Punjab are paying for a 20-kilogram flour bag during the holy month of Ramazan, an official at the food department said.

The NWFP government has recently imported 60,000 tonnes of costly wheat from abroad following the government of Punjab’s refusal to honour its commitment of giving the same quantity for its local consumption, an official at the food department told Dawn.

After adding high transportation cost, the official said that the net cost of per 100 kilogramme wheat would be Rs2,053, which was Rs440 more than the current rate of Rs1,615. “This means ex-factory rate for a 20-kilogramme flour bag will be Rs490, whereas in open market it may reach Rs600,” the official maintained.

The government of Punjab had announced to provide a 20-kilogramme bag of flour at Rs300 during the month of Ramazan, whereas at present its price is Rs365.

In NWFP the same quantity of flour is being sold at Rs540-550, whereas during Ramazan the price will further go up, increasing the financial woes of the consumers, who are already paying more for electricity than the consumers in Punjab.

The Punjab government, said the official, had made commitment with the Frontier government of providing 50,000 tonnes of wheat, whereas it supplied only 7,000 tonnes, compelling Frontier to opt for expensive imported wheat.

The official informed that since wheat price in the international market was higher than the local and it also involved high transportation cost, the consumer price of imported flour will be higher than the price of local wheat.The NWFP government had also announced provision of 100,000 20-kilogramme flour bags at the rate of Rs450, as the government will give a subsidy of Rs60.72 per bag, in addition to the subsidy it is already paying on local wheat, provincial Food Minister Mohammad Shuja said.

The wheat flour, he said would be distributed among the people throughout the province during Ramazan under the supervision of the District Coordination officers (DCOs) at designated fair price shops.

Distribution of 100,000 subsidized flour bags, said the official, was unlikely to mitigate the financial hardships of the consumers because; their outreach was limited and the scheme was confined to the urban areas only.