KARACHI, Nov 18: The provincial minister for food and forests, Hasan Ali Chanhio, has directed the flour mill owners to ensure the availability of good quality subsidized wheat flour at the stalls set up for the purpose.

He said that instead of the 100 stalls, as proposed earlier, 158 stalls had been set up at bachat bazaars in various parts of the city.

He stated this during a visit to bachat bazaars in Korangi, Landhi, Buffer Zone and North Karachi on Sunday and Monday, during which he also checked the quality of flour being sold.

He pointed out that the government had announced reduction in wheat flour prices to provide relief to the people during Ramazan and had fixed the price of flour at Rs9 per kg, after consulting the flour mill owners.

The minister inquired from the consumers about the quality of flour, who complained that certain stalls were selling poor quality flour. The minister said that the food department would take strict action against the irresponsible flour mills and chakki owners.

Secretary food Imtiaz Kazi said that in order to provide high-quality flour at low price to the people, the government had released 50,000 tons of wheat from the 2002 crop. This, he added, was in addition to 200,000 tons of wheat allocated under the Ramazan package.

The minister said the vigilance teams should carry out frequent checking of the quality of flour and in case of any complaint the food secretary should be approached for action. Mr Chanhio said that he, too, could be informed about this at telephone No 9212954.— APP