October 24, 2008	Friday	Shawwal 24, 1429

HYDERABAD, Oct 23: Sindh food secretary Aijaz Ali Khan has said that the provincial government is considering a proposal of establishing food tribunal at each district for conducting speedy trials against profiteers and hoarders to control price hike of flour and kitchen items.

Hew was speaking at a meeting with the officers of the Hyderabad district government and food department regarding supply of flour and enforcement of government-fixed flour price in the market.

Mr Khan said that the government was spending billions of rupees in terms of subsidy for supply of wheat to flour mills and Chakkis to provide relief to the poor people. However, he said, it had been observed that the benefit of the huge investment was not being passed on to common man due to faulty market mechanism.

Therefore, he said, under a new strategy flour mills had been bound to keep full production of their flour at their shops/direct outlets.

He said that according to agreed formula, each flour mill had to produce 80 per cent flour from each 100kg bag of wheat and each Chakki 95 per cent flour from each bag of wheat of same weight.

He directed the officials concerned to form joint teams, comprising revenue officers having powers of special judicial magistrates and food officers, to conduct raids on flour mills and Chakkis, check the record of received wheat quota and sale quantum of produced flour and ensure that the quantum of flour was according to received wheat.

He said that there was an impression that flour mills and Chakki owners were involved in misappropriation of their wheat quota by selling the same in open market and added that intelligence agencies and provincial food vigilance team had been directed to be vigilant. As a result, he said, a truck carrying 250 bags of wheat was caught by a vigilance team in Mirpurkahs when it was transporting wheat belonging to the local Noor Shah Mills to Karachi. He said that because of the illegal act, the license of the mill had been cancelled.

Similarly on erection of an empty flour stall pointed out by the press, one-week wheat quota of the concerned Sunshine Flour Mill, Hyderabad, had been cancelled and a notice issued to the mill management as to why their licence should not be cancelled, he said.

He directed the food officers to furnish detailed information about weekly releases to grinding units and expected production of 5kg and 10kg flour bags of each unit so that the special magistrate could easily audit the business of the grinding units.

He directed the deputy director, food, Hyderabad, to ensure establishment of flour stalls in rural areas of the district so that people of those areas could also be facilitated. The food secretary asked the magistrates to strictly enforce the official flour price.

DCO Ali Ahmed informed the meeting that special magistrates of the district had started surprise visits of the markets and on October 22 they had recovered fine of more than Rs25,000 from shopkeepers on account of charging high prices of flour.

He said that special judicial magistrates would be available at any time to join the vigilance team, conduct raids and impose fine on the defaulter flour sellers. However, he sought proper coordination from the food department so that joint efforts proved successful.

The EDO and the deputy district officers of revenue department, the deputy director, food, Hyderabad, and other officers of the lined departments attended the meeting.