High flour prices: Naanbais stage protest in Charsadda

CHARSADDA: The local Naanbais Association observed a shutter-down strike and set up a protest camp at the Farooq Azam Chowk here on Monday against ever-rising prices of wheat flour coupled with frequent gas and electricity loadshedding.

“The district administration and provincial government must resolve our problems, including uninterrupted gas and power supply and provision of fine flour at a reasonable rate or else the shutter down strike would continue for an indefinite time,” Iqbal Khan told reporters here.

Tajir Ittehad, Labour Wing representatives and others were also present on the occasion.The leader of bread bakers said that their business had come to a grinding halt due to electricity and gas loadshedding and a hike in prices of flour and other expenses.

He said that the people associated with the bread baking business had been rendered jobless owing to inflation, low pressure and non-availability of gas and skyrocketing prices of flour.The participants urged the provincial government to allow the supply of flour from Punjab as flour mills in the province cannot meet the demand of the people.

They said that earlier the price of 85-kilogram sack of flour was Rs5,000 but now 80kg sack of four was being sold at Rs9,500.They warned of continuing the shutter down strike and protest sit-in if their demands were not met.