THE Government seems to have lost control over supply chain as well as price control as is confirmed by persistent shortage of wheat flour along with unprecedented hike in its price and sudden but alarming increase in the price of sugar. It is all the more regrettable that instead of taking concrete steps to resolve the issue and provide relief to the masses, exchange of blame game is underway between the Government and the Opposition on the one hand and the Centre and the Sindh province on the other.
There was absolutely no justification for shortage of wheat flour in an agrarian country where farmers have been complaining of non-purchase of their produce resulting into spoiling of tonnes of wheat under the open sky. The Government itself is claiming that there was no shortage of wheat in the country, describing its scarcity as artificial but the very fact that the Prime Minister has approved import of three hundred thousand tonnes of wheat is an indication that the shortage was not artificial and has much to do with faulty planning and strategy. The Government is also trying to shift responsibility for the crisis by claiming that the Sindh government did not take timely measures for lifting of wheat from PASSCO but it is easily ignoring the reality that the shortage is country-wide and people are forming queues in Punjab cities to get flour. Similarly, nanbais across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had to resort to strike to protest against the shortage of supply along with government measures to keep the prices of roti unchanged. There are also credible reports that the crisis is mainly attributed to unhindered smuggling of wheat and flour to Afghanistan as both the Federal and KP governments closed their eyes to the illegal activity with telling impact on supply and pricing of the commodity within the country. It is ironical that despite claims by the Prime Minister to provide relief to the people during 2020, the price of staple food has jumped by hefty Rs 25pkg seriously upsetting family budgets in the backdrop of skyrocketing inflation. Minister for Planning Khusro Bakhtiar has claimed that sufficient wheat stocks were available in the country to meet domestic requirements, expressing firm resolve to take strict action against those involved in hoarding, profiteering or creating ‘artificial’ crisis of the commodity in domestic markets but the question arises as to why the Government sat idly when the crisis was brewing up initially and why the shortage and price-hike persists despite impressive ‘facts’ and figures of wheat availability and distribution presented by the Minister during his press conference. Factors and reasons attributed to the prevailing messy situation include disruption of supplies due to transport strike, rampant smuggling to Afghanistan, loss of wheat stocks due to heavy rains and flood or inability of a provincial government to procure wheat timely but all these could have been addressed effectively if the authorities concerned with vigilant enough. There are proper mechanisms to ensure this and it appears these could not deliver and this should be a matter of concern for the Government. Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) has been meeting regularly and this is the most concerned forum to discuss supply and pricing issues and take decisions to avert any crisis. However, we have been pointing out in these columns that the very forum has become a source of shortage and artificial price-hike as, at times, it takes decisions under some pressure and influence allowing export of commodities on the basis of distorted figures and data apparently to benefit some vested interests. In this backdrop, it is laughable to try to pass on the buck to the previous government for shortage of wheat and flour as has been done by a cabinet member. Questioning the export of wheat and flour in the last quarter of 2019 when the country was facing shortage of the commodity, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif has demanded a probe into the ‘scam’. Similar demands have also been made by leaders of other opposition parties for an in-depth probe into real causes of the shortage and it would be in the interest of the Government itself to do that to ward off such a situation in future. Steps should also be taken to bring down the price of sugar also, which has gone up by Rs.7 per kilogram in one week.
