LAHORE: Amid an ongoing stand-off between the Punjab food department and flour millers on the alleged misappropriation of official wheat and other issues, the provincial chapter of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) on Sunday disowned the units “stealing” the subsidised wheat and flour and reaffirmed its resolve to go on strike from tomorrow (Tuesday).

To counter the industry’s move, the food department has devised a redistribution plan under which the mills and chakkis (small grinding units) not taking part in the strike will get more supplies of subsidised wheat.

Iftikhar Ahmed Muttoo, the chairman of PFMA’s Punjab chapter, announced on Sunday that the mills embezzling wheat received from the food department storages would be expelled from the association.

“We have never protected the mills misappropriating wheat and will not do so in future,” he said in an audio message to association members, demanding the government name the units allegedly embezzling wheat and investigate each case transparently before taking official action.

Industry refuses to call off tomorrow’s strike; authorities seek to favour non-striking units to plug shortage

However, he reiterated the industry’s resolve to go on strike for an indefinite period from Tuesday against what he said was the one-sided action by the food department, in which heavy fines were imposed on mills even on charges like poor cleanliness on their premises.

Mr Muttoo appealed to the prime minister and Punjab’s caretaker chief minister to take notice of these issues, which he said were impeding the industry’s working and would ultimately make it difficult for consumers to access flour and its by-products.

He said the government had so far taken action against 100 units, while the food officials said they had raided and fined only 35 mills.

The industry, Mr Muttoo said, would continue supplying flour to the market until Monday (today) but then go on strike from Tuesday until authorities come to the negotiating table.

Responding to a query, Mr Muttoo said that only a handful of mills were going against the PFMA’s strike policy. He claimed that the strike call had “unnerved the food authorities” and the department sprang up into action on the non-working day of Sunday to release wheat to some of those mills that were not supporting the strike.

The measure, he said, was aimed at countering the likely shortage of flour in the open market.

Muhammad Zaman Wattoo, Punjab’s food secretary, who earlier proved to be an iron man during action against sugar mills in his role as the provincial cane commissioner, said a plan had been devised to overcome any likely shortage of flour because of the strike.

He told Dawn that mills not supporting the strike call had been given 8,000 tonnes of wheat on Sunday, while registered atta chakki owners had also been taken on board for grinding subsidised wheat and selling at official rates.

From Monday, each chakki would be provided with four wheat bags of 50kg each daily, he said, adding that non-striking mills would be given all the wheat spared from the quota of the units going on strike.

He claimed that the grinding capacity of just 20 per cent of the flour mills in Punjab was sufficient to meet provincial needs and therefore there would be little risk of flour shortage in the province.

He vowed not to spare the few flour mills allegedly stealing official wheat, adding that the millers’ association had announced the strike without conveying its demands to the authorities or filing appeals with the relevant appellant forum against the action so far taken against the defaulting mills.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2023