MANSEHRA: The food department has begun a crackdown on mills selling substandard wheat flour in the district.

Assistant food controller Shaukat Sultan told reporters here on Wednesday that the crackdown was ordered by deputy commissioner Dr Qasim Ali Khan.

He said he led a team of the food department during surprise visits to mills in Mansehra city and its suburbs and collected flour samples before sending them to a Peshawar lab for examination and report.

“Cases will be registered against the millers selling substandard flour,” he said. Mr Sultan said his department was supplying wheat to mills on subsidy.

“The millers provide wheat flour to around 100 sale points set up by the district administration to sell 20kg flour bags to people on the subsidised price of Rs860,” he said.

The official said the subsidised flour sold on the market was of good quality.

AGE LIMIT: The district Zakat committee has fixed age limit for the chairmen and deputy chairmen of its 189 subordinate committees insisting the move will bring in energetic volunteers for the effective and speedy Zakat distribution.

“Only the people from 30 to 45 years will be eligible for the positions of the [committee] chairmen and deputychairmen. The elderly volunteers can join committees as members only,” district chairman of the Zakat committee Jibran Malik told reporters on Wednesday.

He said the selection of the Zakat committee members would begin across the district by March 1.

Mr Malik said the dowry grant had been increased from Rs30,000 to Rs100,000 each on the chief minister’s orders.

“We will give away Rs100,000 to every deserving bride as dowry gift,” he said.

The committee chairman said his panel had distributed Rs60 million to the deserving families in the district.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2021