HYDERABAD, Feb 9: Atta chakkis reopened throughout the district on Saturday after a two-day closure in protest against the food department’s newly introduced quota policy, which had reduced the district’s monthly quota of wheat to 27,000 bags of 100-kg from 100,000 bags a month.

The Atta Chakki Owners Social Welfare Association president, Mohammad Jawaid Qureshi, and joint secretary Mohammad Hanif Rajput said the association had decided to put off the protest and reopen 236 chakkis despite failure of officials of the food department and Shahnawaz Magsi, coordinator to the Sindh food minister, to hold talks with them and redress their grievances.

They said they were assured by the district food controller that the officials and Mr Magsi would talk to the association on Saturday afternoon but nobody contacted them and it appeared they did cared less about their sufferings.

They said the association had planned to stage a massive protest outside the press club on Sunday to protest against the arbitrary and unjust policy. A number of political and religious parties had assured them of their support, they said.

They said that chakki owners had to buy 100-kg wheat bags at Rs3,350 and Rs3,400 from the open market on Saturday to run their mills as they had rejected to get challans from the food department for the wheat quota.

They were, therefore, forced to sell 1kg flour at Rs41-42 at chakkis which was being sold between Rs42 and 45 a kilo in the retail market, they said.

They urged the food department to re-enact the liberal policy under which they would get as many bags as required by the district. The chakkis used to receive over 100,000 bags under the liberal policy till Dec 31 last year but all of a sudden the food department introduced the new policy on Jan 1, which drastically cut down the quota for chakkis, they said.

They said that around 2,000 daily wage-earners working with 236 chakkis suffered during the two-day strike and appealed to the Sindh chief minister, governor, food minister and officers of the food department to immediately raise the quota to help bring down skyrocketing flour prices.

The rise in quota would check price hike and stabilise the market, making flour available at Rs36 per kg at retail shops, they said, adding that the chakkis could grind 5,000 bags of wheat daily and the district needed around 150,000 bags a month.

District Food Controller Masood Siddiqui was not available for comments.

The official had said on Friday that officials of the food department and Mr Magsi, coordinator to the Sindh food minister, would hold dialogue with the association’s office-bearers on Saturday.