ISLAMABAD: The supply of wheat to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have commenced as decided by the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet at its recent meetings, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research announced on Monday.

The ECC had allowed the Pakistan Agricultural Stor­age and Services Corpora­­tion (Passco) to dispatch 0.95 million tonnes of wheat to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.

Passco has started releasing its surplus wheat stocks amid the continuous rise in flour prices in the country.

The first phase of transportation began on Sunday with 250 tonnes of wheat from Passco’s Khanewal and Vehari godowns.

On Monday, almost 600 tonnes of wheat was transported from Passco’s Khane­wal, Vehari, Burewala and Baha­wal­nagar zones.

The ministry said in its press release that the transportation of wheat to Balochistan is likely to start soon.

It added that dispatch of wheat to Khyber Pakhtun­khwa is starting from six Passco zones — Alipur, Multan, Khanewal, Vehari, Burewala and Bahawal­nagar.

Minister for National Food Security and Research Sahibzada Mohammad Mehboob Sultan has directed Passco to rigorously pursue the transportation to avoid any emergency situation.

The ministry is in close liaison with Passco on the movement of consignments to the provinces, stated the press release.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2019