10-kg bag of wheat flour for Rs648 brings some relief to cash-strapped residents
Zubair Qureshi
Amidst the booming crisis of wheat flour, chicken and other edible items whose price has gone beyond the poor man’s reach, District government’s measures for providing wheat flour at discounted rate (Rs648 per 10kg) has brought some relief to the middle-income and the poor residents of Islamabad who have been the worst victims of the current tide of inflation. Officers of the Islamabad Capital Territory Authority (ICTA) on the directions of Deputy Commission Irfan Memon supervised distribution/sale of 10-kg bags of wheat flour in different parts of the city and made sure the facility doesn’t go missing from the selected points. In all 47 points were established across the limits of District Islamabad. In the city sub-division Sitara Mrket (G-7), F-7 (opposite Kohsar Police Station), G-6/1 (near Hockey Ground Aabpara Market) and F-10 Markaz were the areas where wheat flour was available at discounted rate. At each pint, 900 bags of wheat flour were made available. Besides, certain shops were also supplied with the commodity to ease the burden on the general public that is otherwise forced to purchase flour at private shops for Rs1600 per 10 kg. The ICTA had also arranged a number of vehicles carrying these flour bags to be sold to the general public. These vehicles were parked beside the roads in different sectors of Islamabad for the convenience of the general public. One could see men and women standing patiently in long queues at these points waiting for their turn to buy the 10-kg bag. Munir Ahmed, a resident of G-11 while talking to Pakistan Observer, said he had been visiting various sectors in search of flour and it was on Saturday, he could get one bag. He termed the intervention by the Shehbaz Sharif-government timely as the poor man was facing quite hard times due to inflation.
It is pertinent to mention that one person was allowed to get one bag at the discounted prices. An official of the district government said the scheme was launched seeing the difficulties of the general public. The wheat flour being supplied is healthy and nutritious as is available at the private shops, he said.
