ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: The federal cabinet on Wednesday enhanced the wheat support price for the 2005 Rabi season to Rs400 for 40kg from Rs350.

Talking to Dawn, Minister of State for Information Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli said the cabinet had also decided to keep the prices of food items under control during Ramazan.

She said that ministers would visit bazaars during the holy month to monitor availability of food items at reasonable rates. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who presided over the meeting, said he would also pay such visits to bazaars.

Also, the meeting directed provincial governments to take all steps for maintaining prices during Ramazan. The ministry of industries was asked to ensure availability of essential items on discounted prices in utility stores all over the country.

Ms Tahirkheli said the cabinet had also decided to launch an awareness campaign for growers to ensure an increased sowing of wheat. She said the cabinet had noted that an early harvesting of cotton had made more land available for wheat sowing and added that farmers needed persuasion to cultivate more land as price of the commodity had been increased.

The premier constituted an inter-ministerial committee comprising representatives of law, interior and finance miniseries to submit within 15 days a report to the cabinet on the working of housing societies in Islamabad and the scams about to them.

The committee was directed to examine all such schemes being advertised in media and check their credentials. The cabinet reiterated the government's resolve to eradicating terrorism in all its manifestations. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao briefed the meeting on various aspects of the anti-terrorism campaign.

The minister threw light on the circumstances that had led to the killing of leading Al Qaeda operative, Amjad Farooqi, in Nawabshah and arrests of a number of his accomplices from across the country.

The cabinet praised intelligence agencies that had played an important role in busting the terrorist network. Mr Aziz informed the cabinet that the government had decided to continue with the present prices of petroleum products in the country.

He said the government, which had already incurred a loss of Rs15 billion on account of absorbing the increase in oil prices at the international level, was determined not to transfer its effect to the common man.

The premier took the cabinet in confidence on the steps he had taken for the development of tribal areas, including the lifting of economic sanctions on Wana. He said the overall development budget for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas had touched Rs5 billion after he had announced an additional Rs1 billion for Fata during his recent visit to Peshawar.