KARACHI, Oct 18: Ramazan begins from Nov 6 or 7, but the city government has not yet called a single meeting with importers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers to chalk out its strategy to control prices and ensure availability of essential commodities in the holy month.

Retailers and wholesalers say they had not yet received any call either from the provincial government or the city government for pre-Ramazan meeting.

“No one from the city government has contacted us yet,” the general secretary of the Karachi Retail Grocers Group, Mohammed Farid Qureishi, told Dawn on Friday.

He said he had received a call from an official of the ministry of finance in Islamabad one Thursday who inquired about pre-Ramazan meeting, and he told him that no meeting had been held so far.

Formerly before Ramazan at least two meetings between retailers’ and wholesalers’ representatives and government officials used to be held in order to issue price list on the first of Ramazan.

The chairman of the Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Group, Anis Majeed, said no one from the city government had called us about this kind of meeting. “Before the last year’s Ramazan, we had at least two meetings with government officials by this time to take stock of the situation and to discuss the price trend of essential commodities,” he added.

The city government had not yet contacted the wholesalers of New Sabzimandi, a wholesaler said.

Market people forecast a messup about the price situation in case meetings are not called ahead of Ramazan.

This reporter made several attempts to contact the city Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, by phone, but the official on the other end said Nazim Saheb was not picking up the phone as some people were sitting in his room.

Sources in the market said there were serious differences between the city and the provincial government over the implementation of the Price Control Act.

Last year the city government had been given the authority to check profiteering after the Bureau of Supply and Prices, Sindh, was wound up.

In previous Ramazan confusion prevailed on the market over reports that the Town Nazims had been given magisterial powers for one month, after seeking approval of the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, to check and control prices of essential commodities, fruits and vegetables. But the report proved wrong as the Sindh law department raised objections on it. Later powers were given to judicial magistrates to challan retailers and vendors.

Wholesalers and retailers, particularly of fruits and vegetables, enjoyed a free hand to fleece the consumers in previous Ramazan despite regular visits by Town Nazims to various markets. Some Town Nazims even fined retailers, though they were not authorized to do so.

Market people say the city government must have learnt lessons from last year’s price control exercise, so this time round more efforts should be made to check profiteering and overcharging by wholesalers and retailers.

Ramazan is at hand but no meeting has been held so far to decide who would be given powers to control and check prices. There are reports that the city government wants powers of judicial magistrate for the Town Nazims and councillors to control prices.