Chowrangi

Ramadan Relief Package for Sindh: Flour at Rs 10 Kg

In a Press conference along with Flour Mill Owners’ Association, Information Minister Shazia Marri, CM’s adviser Mian Rashid Rabbani and special assistant Waqar Mehdi, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah announced a ‘Ramadan relief package’ in of Rs2 billion a press conference under which quality wheat flour would be sold at Rs10 a kg in the province. However, flour at this rate will be available only at special stalls to be set up by mill owners as reported by Dawn. However later on i came to know that flour is being sold at this price on utility stores also.

The chief minister said the Rs2 billion packages was specifically for flour but talks were under way with owners of sugar mills to make sugar available at less than Rs50 a kilogram fixed by the federal government. Flour mill owners had assured the government that they would ensure availability of quality wheat flour at Rs100 for a 10kg bag. There were 170 flour mills in Sindh, 71 of them in Karachi, and each of them would set up four supply centers.

It has been made obligatory for the shopkeepers to display the price list at a prominent place so that no one could fleece. CM added that owners of restaurants and tandoors could also get flour at the same price but action would be taken against them if they were found overcharging customers.Although monitoring and regulating the sale of items such as sugar and flour at stalls set up by mill owners and a check on tandoor owners will be a tough task for the provincial governments

If Sindh government is able to do so it would be a real relief for the public. Faisal Kapadia on twitter has confirmed that in Sindhi Muslim Society, Karachi on a Utility store Flour is being sold at Rs. 10 per kg as per announcement of CM Sindh. Indeed a good effort for public convenience in this Holy month of Ramadan.

However I do feel that rather subsidizing the commodities it would be long lasting effort to empower public and enable them to earn as much as they need to spend. How long people can rely on relief packages and income support programs?

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Hina Safdar

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3 responses to “Ramadan Relief Package for Sindh: Flour at Rs 10 Kg”

  1. Shakir Lakhani Avatar
    Shakir Lakhani

    James, slowly and surely Pakistanis too are changing. Owing to most city people having access to TV, and the proliferation of satellite channels, even our drivers and watchmen are politically aware. Only in the rural areas, where the feudal lords rule over men who’re worse off than slaves, are the people deprived of their rights.

    Reply
  2. James Killian Spratt Avatar
    James Killian Spratt

    Hina, regarding your last paragraph, about earning power and cost of living, in the early 1970’s South Korean President Pak, Chung Hui instituted a mandatory national program called *Saemaul* which required that owners, managers and workers in all industries get together for regular meetings to discuss their relative grievances and come up with solutions. At the time, life was hard, money didn’t filter down very far and the difference between rich and poor was pronounced, with the vast majority being poor.

    Since then South Korea has been transformed, e.g., American highways are covered with Kia and Hyundai automobiles, which are state-of-the-art, and the biggest ship-building facility in the world is in Pusan. The key to this success was, I’m certain, that when EVERYONE, from the top down, participates side-by-side, even if only for an hour a day, everyone gets onto the same page and starts pulling in the same direction.

    Every developing nation on Earth would benefit from such a program, I believe, as well as the allegedly developed ones.

    Reply
  3. Momina Avatar
    Momina

    Agree with you.

    Reply

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