The Atta Chakki Owners Welfare Association has demanded of the Sindh government to purchase wheat from farmers at a fair price and address the alleged rampant corruption within the provincial Food Department.
In a statement issued on Friday, the association's president Haji Muhammad Memon and other key members stressed the need for the government to align the purchase price of wheat with international market standards, setting it at Rs8,000 per 100kg. This adjustment, they argue, would alleviate the burden on both farmers and consumers while ensuring a fair market value for the commodity.
Meanwhile, the Hyderabad district administration has further reduced the prices of flour at the wholesale level by Rs14 per kg.
However, the mill owners have called an emergency meeting today for the future action plan while rejecting the official price list. According to the flour mill owners, the Deputy Commissioner issued the price list without consultation, although two months ago, he had estimated the cost of wheat and flour and submitted it to the DC office.
Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Tariq Qureshi has issued a notification fixing ex-mill flour price at Rs103, wholesale at Rs111 and retail rate for consumers at Rs116 per kg.
The wholegrain flour from the stone-grinders (chakkies) will be sold at Rs125 at wholesal and Rs130 for retail buyers. The Ata Chakki Owners Social Welfare Association has rejected the new rate list.
According to the newly elected general secretary of the association, Haji Najamuddin Chauhan, the new price list is not acceptable in any case. At present, a bag of 100kg of wheat is being sold at Rs8,800 in the open market and the cost of production was Rs35 per kg. In this way, chakki owners get flour at Rs120 per kg of flour with a profit of Rs3 and they cannot sell it at the officially notified rate.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2024.
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