LAHORE – Following a disagreement with the provincial food department over the suspension of the wheat quota, flour millers have called a strike starting on Monday (tomorrow) across Punjab.
It is expected that the declaration may result in a flour scarcity in Lahore and other province-wide cities. According to sources, more than 100 mills’ wheat quotas have been stopped, and several mills in Lahore, Gujrat, and Multan have already resumed operations.
According to further sources, the provincial food secretary had directed that complaints be filed against 10 mills, and he planned to have the mill proprietors detained.
Iftikhar Matto, the head of the Punjab Flour Mills Association (PFMA), claims that the millers asked the food department to inspect the facilities in accordance with the established standard operating procedures.
On the other side, the Punjab Food Secretary said that no action had been taken against the millers and that most of the mills had increased their allotment of wheat.