KP supplies 478,057 flour bags at official rates through 1,653 dealers

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Department has released weekly figures regarding the supply of flour at official rates across the province, stating that 478,057 flour bags were provided to consumers through 1,653 active flour dealers during the past week.
According to the details released by the Food Department, 142,326 flour bags were supplied in Peshawar Division, 61,047 in Mardan Division and 87,030 in Malakand Division. Similarly, 83,846 bags were supplied in Hazara Division, 4,640 in Bannu Division, 80,539 in Dera Ismail Khan Division and 18,629 in Kohat Division.
Food Department officials said that 3,000 metric tons of government wheat were being released daily to flour mills from the provincial strategic reserve to ensure regular supply of flour at official rates. They added that fines had also been imposed on flour mills found violating the prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The provincial government is providing a 20-kilogram bag of flour prepared from government wheat at Rs2,520 through designated dealers. Teams of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Authority and Food Department are regularly monitoring the quality of wheat and flour.
Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Food, Dr Muhammad Israr Khan, urged citizens to monitor the quality of flour prepared from government wheat and immediately report any substandard flour.
He said that the government quota of any flour mill found supplying substandard flour would be cancelled, besides initiating legal proceedings against the mill.
Dr Israr Khan said the provincial government was taking all possible measures to ensure the provision of quality and affordable flour to the people.
He further said that the increase in flour prices across the country had been caused by what he termed the unconstitutional restrictions imposed by the Punjab government on the inter-provincial movement of wheat and flour. He added that obstacles to the free inter-provincial trade of wheat and flour continued to persist.