KARACHI: Flour millers have criticised the Sindh government’s dual standard of providing a limited wheat quota to millers under the Wheat Food Policy FY25-26 while offering unlimited wheat to traders.

“It appears that the Sindh government’s subsidy for consumers is set to end up in the pockets of traders, as the provincial administration is supplying wheat at Rs8,000 per 100kg bag, while traders are selling the same to millers at Rs9,500,” said Abdul Junaid Aziz, Sindh zone chairman of the Pakistan Flour Mills Asso­ciation (PFMA), at a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, along with other office-bearers.

He added that it was unclear whether the subsidy of Rs1,500 per 100kg bag was meant for consumers, traders or end users. He said the government had earmarked Rs85 billion for the subsidy fund. Over the past 10 days, traders have been provided wheat from the Pipri godown, while flour mills have been deprived of supplies.

Millers in Karachi and interior Sindh, he added, had been allocated only 8,000 to 15,000 wheat bags per mill from Landhi godowns No 1, 2 and 3, and nearly half of the grain available at these godowns is substandard. He said the government had stated that flour millers would receive wheat on a proportional basis, meaning half from Pipri and half from Landhi godowns.

PFMA questions whether Rs1,500 subsidy meant for consumers or traders

“Millers have asked the government to conduct a joint inspection before issuing wheat from Landhi godowns to ensure the grain is fit for human consumption and not four years old, which could pose serious health risks due to food poisoning. However, the Sindh Food Department is not willing to conduct any joint inspection. The association has sent several letters to the provincial government on the issue but has received no response,” Mr Aziz said.

He said traders were easily obtaining challans from the Sindh government for thousands of tonnes of wheat, which, after being loaded from godowns in Karachi and interior Sindh, was being transported to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The subsidy targeted for consumers of Sindh is being utilised by traders,” he added.

Mr Aziz urged the Sindh government to cancel wheat allocations to traders and provide grain to millers after making necessary changes to the policy. He claimed that while the Sindh government has stated wheat stocks of 11.5 million tonnes, the actual stock ranges between 7.5m and 8.5m tonnes, calling for a transparent inquiry into the matter.

He said the new Sindh wheat crop would arrive in March. Government wheat stocks would hardly meet consumer needs for more than three months, he said, adding that the grain should not be allowed to leave Sindh at any cost, as this could lead to an increase in flour prices.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2025