Sindh Food Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla on Thursday announced that the provincial government had sufficient stock of wheat available and it would continue supplying wheat flour at subsidized rates to people till March 2023, before arrival of fresh wheat crop in the market.
He was flanked by Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon here at Sindh Assembly.
Talking to media persons, the provincial minister informed that the Sindh Food department had 750,000 metric tons of wheat available in the stock that would be utilized for provision of wheat flour to people at subsidized rates.
He said that Sindh government had set wheat procurement target for the year 2022 at 1.4 million metric tons and food department managed to procure one million tons from local farmers while remaining 0.4 million metric tons was purchased from Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO).
Chawla added that PASSCO had already delivered 200,000 metric ton wheat to provincial government while delivery of remaining 200,000 metric ton was expected within a month after arrival of ships on December 20.
He said that there was a fear of a huge damage to the wheat stored in warehouses in the areas affected by recent floods and rains in the province but thankfully damages remained limited and most of the stock was preserved.
He added that teams of the food department have checked warehouses in different areas and stock of perished wheat has been separated.
The provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon while speaking at the occasion said that Sindh government was providing flour to the people at Rs.65 per kg through 1100 designated stalls and mobile shops in every city and area of the province.
On the other hand, PTI government in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have completely failed to provide relief to the people as there was a shortage of wheat flour and even prices have crossed Rs.100 per kg in some areas of Punjab.
He said, “The Sindh government is making every possible effort to rehabilitate the flood victims and all the resources were being utilized for the purpose.”
“A subsidy of Rs 5000 per acre was being given to the wheat farmers”, he mentioned.
