MITHI, Feb 11: Taking note of critical speeches made by members of the Tharparkar district council during Wednesday's session against non-supply of subsidized wheat to the drought-hit area of Thar for the last six months , the Tharparkar DCO has claimed that distribution of the commodity in the district has been initiated.

In a press release issued by the information department on Thursday, DCO Gul Hassan Channa said that distribution of subsidized wheat in the district had been started and depot keepers informed that they should take wheat bags of 100kg each to relevant relief centres after depositing half of the price in the treasury.

They had been directed to distribute the commodity among the drought-affected families, he added. In the past, the district administration used to pay the transportation charges after calling tenders for carrying wheat to the relief centres.

However, it has been learnt that the district administration has not yet received funds for transportation of the commodity, which makes it hard to understand how the process would be managed.

Moreover, Chhachhro taluka has not been included in the relief distribution list. The DCO has written a letter to the Relief Commissioner urging him to include the taluka in the list, besides three other talukas; however, he has not yet received any response.

The district administration has sanctioned 423 relief centres and 1,100 depot keepers for the distribution work, but a clear-cut policy is yet to be devised by relevant functionaries. It may safely be concluded that practical distribution of wheat will take some time.