TAXILA: Flour mill owners here on Tuesday said they have joined hands with the food department and the local administration to to ensure uninterrupted supply of flour to the citizens at the officially-fixed rate.

Pakistan Flour Mills Association Punjab chapter Vice Chairman Sheikh Mohammad Saeed along with District Food Controller Mazhar Hussain Baluch and Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Faheem told newsmen that steps had been taken to curb the artificial price hike, shortage and hoarding of flour.

“Two fair price shops have been established at each union council of the city. As many as 31 fair price shops and seven trucking points have also been set up in urban areas where 20 kg flour bag is being sold at Rs800,” said Mr Saeeed.

He said fair price shops had also been established on the premises of 23 flour mills in Taxila.

The assistant commissioner said a control room to monitor the availability of flour and its supply to fair price shops had already been set up where officials of the local administration and food department were monitoring the prices as well as availability of the commodity.

He said the monitoring officials would keep an eye in the market besides recording discrepancies in the supply.

To a question, he said there was no ‘crisis of flour’ in Taxila subdivision. He said the wheat stock in area was sufficient to meet the demand of the residents till April.

Meanwhile, Member Punjab Assembly Ammar Sadeeq Khan inaugurated a fair price shop at a flour mill in the timber market.

Speaking on the occasion, the MPA said the government had taken effective measures to overcome the flour crisis and situation of flour supply had improved considerably across the province. The flour crisis will end within a couple of days, he added.

Mr Khan said the local administration had set up fair price shops at the union council level besides sending truckloads of flour to designated places in various parts of the city that helped in reducing the gap between demand and supply.

Filling station, wedding hall owners booked AC Mohammad Faheem raided petrol filling stations and marriage halls in Taxila and Wah and booked two owners.

The owner of a filling station was booked for supplying petrol in less quantity to consumers while a case was registered against the owner of a marriage hall for violation of the one-dish policy.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2020