QUETTA: Balochistan has requested the Centre to provide 600,000 bags of wheat on an emergency basis as it was facing an acute shortage which led to a massive hike in the price of flour.

Balochistan’s Minister for Food, Zamarak Khan Piralizai has said that the province’s food department has only a few days of wheat stock left.

Sending an SOS to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Ministry of National Food Security, the minister sought assistance to make flour affordable for the people of Balochistan.

The province had also requested the Punjab government to provide 600,000 bags of wheat two months back but despite a promise by Chief Minister Parvez Elahi, the grain was yet to reach Balochistan.

“We were expecting a supply of 200,000 tonnes of wheat from Punjab two months earlier but due to the inter-provincial ban on the transportation of wheat, it could not reach Balochistan,” a senior food department official told Dawn.

Mr Piralizai, while confirming the wheat crisis in the province, said Islamabad should come forward to help the province.

He said Balochistan could not procure wheat according to its target during the last harvesting season due to various reasons including heavy damages due to floods in the wheat-growing areas.

“We managed to procure only 300,000 tonnes of wheat against the target of one million tonnes,” Mr Piralizai told Dawn.

The food department also procured 200,000 tonnes of wheat from Pakistan Agricultural Storage & Services Corporation.

He said he had met with the Punjab Chief Minister Elahi for the provision of wheat and also reached out to the Sindh government, but due to heavy rains and floods, the entire country was facing a shortage of wheat.

“We will not leave the people of Balochistan alone in this crisis and utilise all available resources to ensure an adequate supply of flour,” he assured, adding Balochistan Chief Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo was also making efforts to resolve the issue.

However, sources told Dawn that despite the cabinet’s timely decision to procure one million tonnes of wheat, the food department could not achieve the procurement target from Nasirabad division and a huge quantity of wheat was purchased by private buyers from Sindh.

Over the past few days, the price of a 20kg flour bag has increased by Rs300 and is now being sold at Rs2600 in the open market.

The flour mill owners have blamed the food department for not supplying the wheat as per the fixed quota for the mills which has created a crisis and resulted in a price hike.

According to mill owners, around 18 mills working in Quetta need 25,000 bags of wheat daily to fulfil their requirements.

Pakistan Flour Mills Association Chairman Syed Nasir Agha told Dawn that the food department has a few days’ stocks and if wheat was not arranged, the situation would worsen further.

He added millers were purchasing wheat from the open market where the price has reached over Rs11,000 per 100 kg bag.

“We have no option but to increase flour prices,” said Mr Agha.

Published in Dawn, january 4th, 2023