HYDERABAD, July 13: DCO Ali Ahmed has formed a committee to launch a campaign against wheat hoarders, raid warehouses and depots and confiscate hoarded grain to help stabilise prices of flour in the district.

The committee headed by EDO of revenue with a magistrate and representatives of food and police departments as members was formed at a meeting held at Shahbaz Hall here on Saturday.

Mr Ahmed said that the provincial government had directed to stabilise wheat and flour prices at all cost. The district government was considering a proposal for selling flour at flour mills at Rs21 per kilogramme and at the chakkis at Rs19 per kg and a decision on the proposal would be taken in a couple of days, he said.

He said that 20 flour stalls would be set up in different areas of the district to ensure that flour was sold at fixed rates. To ensure implementation of the orders of chief minister, provincial secretary of food should be requested to allow entry of wheat into Hyderabad which was a non-wheat producing area to help reduce prices in the open market, the meeting proposed.

The officials of the food department informed that in accordance with the government policy, wheat could not be supplied from the government godowns before the month of September.

The meeting was informed that the government had suspended issuance of food grain licences up till August.

The in-charge of the Utility Stores told the meeting that the price of food items had been fixed by the stores head office, so he was not in a position to make any changes in prices.