KHAIRPUR, May 21: The district food controller has said that the Sindh government has fixed a wheat procurement target of 157,000 metric tons for Khairpur district but the food department has so far procured 66,246 metric tons of wheat.

He was speaking at a meeting held here on Wednesday to discuss the wheat procurement process. The meeting was presided over by DCO Mohammad Iqbal Memon. Wheat harvesting has been completed in the district and, according to an estimate, 75 to 80 per cent of wheat crop has already been sold by farmers. Under these circumstances, the district food department may find it almost impossible to meet the target.

The controller said that wheat was being transported in trailers from Khairpur to Sukkur and other districts during night hours and police and Rangers were needed to curb the wheat movement. The DCO expressed dissatisfaction over performance of the food department and instructed the revenue officers/magistrates and food officials to take notice of wheat hoarding by traders, flour mills and landlords.

The meeting decided that if any one provided information regarding illegal stocks of wheat made by any trader/flour mill owners, he would be rewarded and his name would be kept secret.

EDO revenue Ahmed Ali Qureshi told the meeting that there had been improvement in the district’s wheat production this year as compared to last year.