Woes of flour buyers

Essential commodity becoming scarce for people

KARACHI: Despite the government’s measure to set up sale points for the provision of flour at subsidised rates, people are facing enormous challenges to buy wheat flour from these points.

Muhammad Nazir, a customer at a sale point, said that he arrived at around 10:00 am but no truck carrying flour was in sight till 12:00 noon.

“I have been jobless for a few years now. I cannot wait in long queues for hours because of my health issues. I am a heart and Hepatitis patient. As my son cannot come here due to his job, I have to take this responsibility,” he added.

As the management announced opening the back of the doors of trucks, people lined up to buy flour at subsidised rates.

The queues included people of all ages, some of them also brought their children to carry extra bags. They came from various adjacent areas such as Railway Colony, Sultanabad, Hijrat Colony, Kemari, Shirin Jinnah Colony, and others.

Gul Bibi, a 45-year-old lady, said that she reached the Jehangir Kothari Parade Ground early in the morning to buy flour. However, the trucks were not there and she had to wait for almost three hours.

She said a few years ago, she got separated from her husband, and since then, she is living in a rented apartment with her three children. The two daughters are studying and also teaching kids at home at minimal fees, she added.

“My son leaves early for work at a home appliance store; therefore I have to come to buy subsidised flour for my family. This setup is a better option, compared with that of my area but it is too far from my place,” she said, adding that sometimes, women have to return empty-handed, owing to long queues.

Aijaz Memon, who was managing the sales, said that usually, the disbursement of flour commences early in the morning. However, on that specific day, the trucks reached the point late.

“We usually have 12 trucks from various mills, with each truck having a load of 600 bags. We start around 9:00 am and continue till 5:00 pm,” he added.

Flour is available at Rs 650/10kg bag at the Kothari Parade Ground sale point, compared to the average price of Rs1,400/10kg bag at general stores and open market.

Earlier, the Sindh government increased the wheat quota of flour mills, with the expectation that the prices will likely drop by Rs 95/kg in the open market.

Meanwhile, wheat flour is also available at Rs 65/kg at 1,100 sale points of the Sindh government across the province.

Noman Durrani, an essential food commodities retailer, said that the retailers change prices in line with the flour mills’ prices, which have not been reduced as of now.

“The open market prices remain the same, as we still have not received any revised prices from the wholesale market. The flour bags in my inventory have a price tag of Rs 1,400/10kg bag. As soon as we receive the new price list, we will lower the prices of new stocks and also the current inventory,” he added.

Pakistan is on its way to becoming a food insecure country due to a widening gap between the demand for wheat and other essential commodities and their supplies.

Last year, heavy rainfall, floods, extreme heat, and cold played a vital role in damaging crop yields. The monsoon rains and floods in July and August 2022 wiped out the standing crops across the country, resulting in hiked prices of food commodities.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation in December 2022 rose to 24.47 per cent from 23.84 per cent a month ago, as the increased prices of food items resulted in elevated general inflation, the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed.

Food inflation, which occupies 34.58 weightage in the CPI basket, jumped to 35.5 per cent in December 2022 against 31.16 per cent in November 2022, with the biggest increase of 415 per cent in the prices of onions; followed by tea, 64 per cent; wheat, 57 per cent; eggs, 54 per cent; rice, 47 per cent; gram pulse, 45 per cent; and chicken prices went up 44 per cent.

In a major development, two cargo ships, carrying 300,000 tonnes of wheat, the first consignment from Russia, docked at the Port Qasim on January 9.

According to the Ministry of Food Security, the remaining 400,000 tonnes of the total 700,000 tonnes of Russian wheat will reach Gwadar Port by March 30.