LAHORE/QUETTA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday directed officials to ensure the provision of free flour to the needy to ease their difficulties in Ramazan.

Chairing a review meeting in Lahore for the provision of free flour to the residents of Islamabad, the premier said the government was taking all possible measures to alleviate people’s sufferings during the holy month.

“After my visits to Lahore, Kasur and Sargodha, I will visit other cities to oversee the process for the supply of free flour and to ensure quality,” he said, according to the APP.

He said deserving people not on the Benazir Income Support Prog­ramme (BISP) roll should be immediately registered.

He directed officials to ensure that counters of the National Database and Registration Aut­hority (Nadra) and BISP should be immediately opened at flour distribution points.

He further directed that any needy person who comes to a free flour distribution centre should be given flour, and in this regard, all relevant departments should take steps.

Meanwhile, the Balochistan government has fixed the minimum wheat support price at Rs4,000 per 40 kilograms and decided to start procurement on April 1.

The objective of this initiative is to increase wheat production by encouraging and providing financial support to the farmers in the province, said a press release issued on Saturday.

Official sources said the provincial government had decided to start wheat procurement from growers from April 1 and had released Rs6 billion to the food department in this regard.

“The finance department will release an additional Rs2bn to the food department soon for purchasing wheat,” a senior official of the Chief Minister’s House said.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2023