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Flour crisis may hit Punjab, KP next week

Muhammad Saleh Zaafir
Sunday, Oct 10, 2021

ISLAMABAD: The provinces of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as well as the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) might face severe flour shortage the next week as the Flour Mills Association (FMA) has announced observing strike in Punjab from Tuesday, Oct 12, if their demands were not accepted immediately.

According to a press release issued on Saturday, the mills’ owners said the government was not listening to their demands, and they had no other option but to go on strike. The FMA said it had failed to convince the government to enhance the thrashing charges to Rs600 for 100kg wheat, and the 20kg flour bag price by Rs50.

The association said the government had backtracked on an agreement, which they had reached in the last week of September, and flour price and thrashing charges had not been increased. It said that if wheat supply was not improved, the crisis would continue to deepen.

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam did not respond a query regarding the development when approached on Saturday through a message.