KARACHI, Nov 21: The city government’s drive against price-hike during Ramazan has failed to rein-in meat merchants who have been selling beef and mutton at an exorbitantly high price in different areas of the metropolis.

In Clifton, Defence and other posh localities, mutton is being sold at Rs160 per kg — Rs20 higher than the fixed price of Rs140. Mutton in other areas, like F. B. Area, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad and Liaquatabad, is being sold at Rs150 per kg.

Similarly, meat sellers are charging Rs80 per kg for calf (bachchia) meat with bones as against the pre-Ramazan price of Rs 75 per kg in most of the city areas.

The unauthorized raise in meat prices is not a healthy sign for the coming days and if the city government failed in its ongoing campaign to bring down the prices, people will be bound to take the costly ride by paying higher prices, particularly in the last week of Ramazan as meat buying gains momentum before Eid-ul-Fitr.

Meat merchants of various areas attribute the price hike to the increase in wholesale prices in the markets which, they say, automatically pushes the retail prices up.

City government officials maintained that retailers were being booked for over-charging and not complying with orders to display price list. They said that they were charging higher prices even with price lists being on display in their shops.

Market sources, however, said that the meat merchants and the city administration had actually failed to agree on prices to be fixed for Ramazan period and this was the cause of the price hike.

They recalled that the meat merchants had proposed five to 15 per cent higher rates of beef and mutton to the price regulators for the holy month but the city government had rejected the proposed rates. The disagreement, they added, prompted the Meat Merchants Welfare Association, Karachi, to release its own price list.

A city government official said that the prices, proposed by the meat merchants, were only discussed between the meat sellers and the government but not approved by the city administration.

Last week, the government had expedited its efforts to check profiteering by investing magisterial powers to deputy district officer (DDO Revenue). These DDOs started visiting shops and imposing fines on those found indulged in over-charging.

The action provoked resentment among the meat sellers who have been resisting the way the price checking exercise is being undertaken.

Meanwhile, the General Secretary of Meat Merchants Welfare Association, (MMWA), Karachi, Iqbal Qureishi, has criticized the ‘unfair’ attitude of certain DDOs in their action against over-charging and unjust imposition of of fines on meat sellers.

In a press release of the association, issued here on Thursday, he claimed that the DDO Revenue, Liaquatabad, Mr Aurangzeb, visited block N of North Nazimabad and Hyderi meat markets for checking prices. He said that the DDO collected all the meat sellers and ordered them to pay fines accusing them of not displaying the price list though the same were in place prominently in their shops.

Mr Qureishi alleged that those who did not have money to pay the fines, were sent to jail.

Similarly, he said, the DDO of Gulistan-i-Jauhar had not only imposed fines but also forced some of the shopkeepers to sell mutton at Rs120 per kg under his supervision setting aside the price list issued by the association which, he said, was unacceptable to him.