Wheat quota suspended for flour mills

LAHORE: Punjab food department has suspended the wheat quota for flour mills and decided to auction the wheat under Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Punjab food secretary Zaman Watto said that mill owners can also participate in the auction. He added that the provincial government is mulling to grant direct subsidies on flour.

He said that the steps were taken to stop misappropriations in the wheat quota.

The flour mills associations have not yet reacted to the Punjab government’s decision.

Read: Free flour distributed with transparency: Marriyum Aurangzeb responds to Shahid Khaqan

In May, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) launched an investigation into alleged ‘irregularities’ in Punjab free flour scheme following the allegations levelled by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

A team of the accountability watchdog had visited the office of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) in Lahore and questioned the officials about the free flour scheme.

In a statement, the PFMA spokesperson said that the NAB team was apprised of the process of wheat collection from the government and flour grinding.

The bureau had also visited the Directorate of Food Department and conducted investigations into the alleged irregularities.