By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : The flour crisis in Pakistan is getting worse with people blaming the government, which in turn accuses hoarders and profiteers for the shortage and spiralling prices of the staple food.
“The government remained busy with loot and plunder and we are standing in long queues for flour,” said Amjab Hussain, a resident of Rawalpindi who failed to get his quota of wheat flour from the government-run utility store as it ran out of stocks before his turn came.
“Believe me, no one is going to vote for these plunderers,” he shouted in front of more than 100 people who joined him in raising slogans against President Pervez Musharraf and leaders of his ally Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q).
The price for one kg of flour has increased to Pakistani Rs.25-30 (40-50 cents) at some places from the government-fixed price of Rs.12.
Like Hussain, there are hundreds of thousands of people who leave their houses daily to get their quota of flour but return unsuccessful due to the acute shortage.
“We want ‘roti’,” shouted a group of people in downtown Rawalpindi while former information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was on a campaign tour there.
Fearing riots, the government has increased the wheat quota for provinces and deployed over 6,000 personnel of Frontier Constabulary (FC) and Rangers at mills, stores and routes across the country to ensure smooth supply of flour to markets.
Newspapers say Rangers and FC personnel were escorting the wheat supply from stores to mills and from mills to distribution points and markets, monitoring daily production of flour at mills according to their quota, and checking illegal movement of the commodity.
“With the increased wheat quota for the provinces and deployment of paramilitary troops, the flour crisis in the country would end in the next three to four days,” said Information Minister Nisar Memon.
He said utility stores across the country would get 100,000 bags of 20 kg per day as against the present quota of 50,000 bags.
Memon also said there was enough stock of wheat in the country while the government had ordered for more wheat from the open international market.
“We are sure the fresh stock will reach Karachi in a couple of days,” said the minister, adding that some hoarders were behind the crisis just to make money.