Shutter-down, protest rally against 100pc increase in wheat price

GH Farooqui

CHITRAL: The recent increase by the government in wheat price by 100pc was on Friday protested by all political, religious parties and traders in Chitral by closing markets, blocking the main Chitral-Dir road and holding a rally.

Addressing the gathering of people, speakers belonging to different political and religious parties regretted that Chitrali people had been deal with discrimination by successive governments. A notification was issued by the previous PTI government in KP under which watermills in Chitral were shut downa nd in their places outsiders were allowed to open flour mills.

They said repeated protests and appeals against the supply of substandard wheat flour form these mills fell on deaf ears. And to rub salt into the wounds of the Chitralis, the current government increased the price of wheat from Rs6,000 per bag of to Rs12,000 per bag – a 100pc hike. 

It may be noted that in the past wheat was provided to the people of Chitral at the rate of Punjab ie Rs57 per kg, as the transportation cost was borne by the government. But till the recent hike, the same wheat was being given to millers who sell flour to the consumers at the rate of Rs150 per kg, which was an injustice with the local people.

Local people have been demanding that the government should stop supplying subsidized wheat to millers and restore the past practice of selling wheat at sale points across Chitral to benefit the common man. 

The protesters also demanded of the government to revise its decision of increasing the wheat price when the consumers were already hit hard by rising inflation. 

District Food Controller Rehmat Wali Khan told ChitralToday that the supply of wheat to flour mills had been stopped for nine days on the demand of the local people. However, later this process was resumed on the direction of the provincial government.

He said 200 maunds of wheat was given to the people daily from the government warehouse of Chitral. Similarly, 180 maunds are selling to the public from the warehouse of Drosh on a daily basis. This wheat is exempted form that provided to the flour mills.