Punjab has wheat stock of 2.3 million metric tonnes: Bilal Yasin

LAHORE (APP) - Provincial Food Minister Bilal Yasin said on Tuesday the Punjab government successfully provided a historical relief to people in ‘flour and roti’ prices in the province.

Presiding over a cabinet committee meeting at the Civil Secretariat, he said the price of a 20 kg bag of flour was reduced by Rs 1,000 within a month and a bag of 20 kg flour was available in the market for Rs 1,700 to 1,800 while a bag of 10 kg for Rs 900.

Bilal Yasin claimed that ‘Naan and Roti’ were available across Punjab at notified prices. He said that government’s full attention was focused on the relief for common man and reduced the price of Roti with a strong strategy.

He said that 50 percent of population of the province lived in cities and the poor people were happy about the reduction in the flour price.

The minister said that there was a carry-forward stock of 2.3 million metric tonnes of wheat in Punjab which was enough for the next year. He said that during the caretaker period, the unnecessary import of wheat created a crisis for the farmers.

"The prime minister has formed a fact-finding committee to inquire into the matter, which would submit a report soon," he added.

Provincial Minister of Agriculture Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani, Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Secretary Food Punjab Moazzam Iqbal Sipra, Director Food Punjab Shoaib Khan Jadoon and other officials of the departments concerned attended the meeting.