LAHORE, Aug 28: DCOs have been asked to take all measures to control prices of essential items during the forthcoming Ramazan and make flour millers keep the food department informed of the sale during the month.

The directions were given by Chief Secretary Salman Siddique at a meeting attended by the DCOs of all districts of the province here on Monday night.

According to the information released on Tuesday, the DCOs were asked to hold joint meetings with traders’ and consumers’ associations as part of the strategy to control the prices of items of daily use during Ramazan.

The chief secretary said the food department would start releasing wheat to the flour millers before the start of Ramazan. The millers, he added, should be told to regularly keep the food department informed of the details of flour sale so as to ensure the easy availability of the commodity in the market and proper utilisation of the released stocks.

He ordered the presence of market committee staff in the wholesale markets to monitor the sale of fruits, vegetables and other items to keep their prices in the retail market at a reasonable level during Ramazan. There should be no hoarding or profiteering, he said.

The meeting was informed that civil work at the BHUs and RHCs was in progress under the health sector reform programme. The construction work at 48 BHUs had been completed and was going on at another 147, while the civil work would also be completed at 200 rural health centres by December, it was told. Funds to the tune of Rs500 million would be required in the second phase of the programme, whereas recruitment of the required staff for these centres was in progress, it was added.

Only two DHQ hospitals in the province were without gynaecologists and necessary measures were being taken to fill the slots, the meeting was informed.

The meeting also reviewed various matters related to the collection of abiana (water cess) and the agriculture income tax.

It was stated that the provincial government had set the target of construction of 500 water courses in barani areas and 4,500 in canal-irrigated areas for which water users’ associations had deposited Rs67 million, while the design of 29 per cent of the courses had already been completed.

Data collection for the preparation of a directory of industrial units by the industries department, and the establishment of human resource management (HRM) offices in all districts were also reviewed at the meeting.

The meeting decided to identify tourists’ resorts in all districts and nominate focal persons to guide tourists.