July 11, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 14, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, July 10: In order to control the price hike, provinces have asked the Centre to induct price control magistrates (PCMs) into district governments across the country, sources told Dawn on Monday.

In the absence of an appropriate price control mechanism at the local government level, the provinces are facing problems in tackling the sky-rocketing prices, said the sources.

“Since there is no provision of magistrates under the local government system, the district governments are helpless in controlling the ever-increasing prices of consumer items,” a source in Punjab government said. In his budget speech, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had announced that PCMs would be inducted into district governments in order to deal with the menace of price hike, but there has been no notification in this regard so far.

However, it is learnt that the Prime Minister Secretariat would soon issue the much-awaited notification.

Under the new system, District Price Control Committees (DPCCs) had been formed to control prices and ensure provision of adequate supply of consumer items, but the committees were helpless without magisterial powers.

The government has recently promised to reduce the prices of kitchen items, specially pulses, fruits and vegetables, but no significant progress has so far been made in this regard at the district level.

According to sources, Islamabad is the only city in the country where magistracy system is still running due to the non-implementation of the local government system, adding as a result of the availability of magistrates in the city, the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration is effectively controlling the prices.