[Style Mantra]

By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: A war of nerves has started between flour millers and the Punjab government after its officials 'took over' 72 flour mills of Lahore and Sheikhupura region besides taking into custody flour stocks in different districts during the wee hours on Sunday.

The officials of police, food and revenue departments of the Punjab government took part in the operation to ensure the flour supply to Sunday bazaars. The Punjab government took the extreme step after the refusal of flour millers to do so.

Punjab Food Secretary Rao Iftikhar, talking to The News, said as many as 341 flour mills out of total 600 had announced their full support to the Punjab government. The association has objection to the formula of population-based wheat quota release, inter-district flour and wheat movement, and cancellation of wheat quota of 57 flour mills.

The Punjab government has not taken over any of the flour mills, he said, adding it had just deputed its officials at the mills to regulate the flour supply. "The government has right to regulate flour supply and keep a vigilant eye on the wheat supplied by it," Rao said.

According to government calculations, a flour mill with four rollers can earn Rs 300,000 a month if it gets wheat at Rs 560 per maund. But this profit is not acceptable to the flour mills which earned much more profit during the last season.

Immediately after the Punjab government's action against the flour millers, the Pakistan Flour Mills Association Punjab branch called a press conference threatening that the flour supply would deteriorate.

However, an official of the Punjab Food Department said they had made all the arrangements to ensure availability of the staple food at Rs 300 per 20 kilogram during Ramazan. After Ramazan, he said, the provincial government would evolve a new policy and price.

Sources in the flour milling industry said there was rift among the members of the association. Flour Mills Association's Sargodha Division vice chairman Iftikhar Sidhu said he had already been lifting wheat quota from the government godowns and ensuring the price and supply to his division. He has influence in his division over the association members and is also annoyed with the chairman of the Punjab Branch of the Association, Habib-ur-Rehman Legahri, on the flour quota and supply to NWFP and Balochistan.

Similarly, the association members of the Rawalpindi division have differences with the chairman as he did not support them in a strike call given by them recently. Now almost every flour mill in Rawalpindi division is lifting the wheat quota regularly from the government godowns.

The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (Punjab Branch) chairman said at the press conference that the association had prepared a writ petition against the Punjab government on the imposition of inter-district flour movement ban, Wheat Release Policy 2008-09, 'illegal' takeover of flour mills and confiscation of flour after breaking the locks of their mills. On the other hand, the Punjab government said it was ready to fight the millers even in courts.

Leghari showed the keys of the flour mills of Lahore and Sheikhupura region and said the remaining flour millers in the province would also give the government their keys today (Monday) in the general body meeting of the association.

The meeting will decide as to which official of the Punjab government will be given the keys of all the mills in Punjab. He said the Punjab government should itself run the flour mills and supply flour to the people. He added the Punjab government would be responsible for paying electricity bills.

Leghari said the association had been cooperating with the Punjab government over the last three months but the government had disappointed them. He claimed that the Punjab government last year paid Rs 52.50 for grinding 20 kilogram of wheat but now it was paying only Rs 10 under the new policy.

He alleged that the Punjab food secretary had kept Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in the dark by portraying a wrong picture. He condemned the registration of FIRs against the millers.

He said the millers did not want confrontation with the government or to make the public suffer during Ramazan. He claimed that none of the millers had announced their support to the Punjab government.