LAHORE - The district governments in Punjab are still reluctant to allow inter-district wheat movement despite the fact that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had rescinded the ban in this regard on the wheat movement, sources concerned revealed to this scribe on Wednesday. The sources in the food department say that the provincial hierarchy had asked all the districts authorities to stop wheat movement to facilitate the food department to procure maximum quantum of wheat in this season. The District Food Controllers have also straightforwardly refused to acknowledge the permits allowing some flourmills to purchase wheat, and for inter-district movement, asserting that no wheat movement could be allowed till the department achieved its procurement target. "The DFCs in some district tore apart the wheat purchase permits issued to some flourmills and did not allow them wheat purchase and transport," a representative of the Pakistan Flourmills Association told this reporter on Wednesday requesting anonymity. The flour millers have warned that if this situation continued to persist it would climax into severe flour crises in the provincial metropolis and other big cities of Punjab, as the millers would ultimately cut down the flour supply to the markets because they have been forbidden from purchasing and transporting wheat from the major wheat producing areas. Another worst flour crisis is likely to surface in the big cities including Lahore and Rawalpindi as the flour millers have refused to lift wheat from the Punjab government's godowns terming the wheat quality as substandard and demanding of the government to comply with the ECC orders. "The Punjab government has decided to procure the entire wheat produce from the growers in a bid to prevent any future food crises," said an official of the Food Department commented, seeking anonymity. He said that the govt had imposed 'undeclared' ban, issuing strict directions to all the quarters concerned in this regard. "Neither the food department nor the district govts have so far been directed by the provincial authorities to allow the wheat movement," he added. The government has also strictly stopped the private sector including all the rice, cotton and seed mills from buying wheat from the growers with a view to procuring maximum wheat quantum not only for Punjab but also for Balochistan and NWFP provinces. Official sources maintained that this time the government has made the wheat purchase procedure more complex for the millers in order to facilitate the food department to procure maximum wheat amount from the growers to avoid any further food crisis in the future. "So far, only few flour millers have been issued permits after they assured the government that they had no wheat stock. But they are still not being allowed to buy any wheat stock and transport it to the big cities from the major wheat producing districts," another flour miller said. Interestingly, the district food controllers also have not been provided any books so far, for the purpose of issuing permits, sources maintained. The government had decided to issue permits to the flour millers on the surety of call deposit for wheat procurement but not enough for more than 72-hour of the grinding capacity. It may be mentioned here that the Punjab will procure three million tonne wheat while 1.3 million tonne wheat will be procured for Balochistan and NWFP on the request of their governments. Officials claim that the wheat procurement centres have been made functional and the procurement is underway at all these centers in Punjab.