BAHAWALPUR, March 8: The Punjab Food Department has fixed wheat procurement target of 590,000 metric tons for the current Rabi crop for Bahawalpur region comprising districts of Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan.

A source in the department told Dawn on Tuesday that according to a district-wise breakdown, 190,000 metric tons of wheat will be procured in Bahawalpur district, 250,000 metric ton in Bahawalnagar and 150,000 metric ton in Rahim Yar Khan district.

The department has set up 82 centres to procure wheat from the three districts. According to a district-wise breakdown, 30 centres will be set up in Rahim Yar Khan, 27 in Bahawalpur and 25 centres will be set up in Bahawalnagar district.

The government has fixed Rs350 per metric ton as official wheat procurement price. So far, the government has not announced its policy for granting bank loans to flour mills and traders, who usually purchase wheat from farmers.

The delay in policy announcement is creating anxiety among businessmen, who are demanding liberal loan limits.

Flour mill owners are also perplexed over the situation, who mostly depend on the monetary help provided by the government in the form of yearly bank loans. Millers apprehended that if they were not provided timely loan limits, their mills might stop grinding flour even to meet government requirements for different subsidy schemes, which might create hardship for the poor.