January 25, 2008	Friday	Muharram 15, 1429

DADU, Jan 24: Consumers have accused the officials of the Utility Stores Corporation of pilfering and selling to privately-run shops the subsidised daily-use items meant for the poor and low-income section of society.

They complain that all the 55 stores established at union council level in Dadu, Mehar, Johi, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Sehwan talukas in Dadu region have failed to cater to their needs and what little they have to offer is generally substandard.

Sources in the corporation blamed maladministration for shortage of food items in the stores and said some officials were supplying the items to local traders.

The corporation has failed to reopen five of 15 main stores, which had been set on fire in Mehar, Sita Road, Bhan Syedabad, Johi and Radhan during disturbances triggered by Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on Dec 27.

Sources said that police arrested in-charge of Utility Store in Mehar, Manzoor Dahri red-handed when he, in a bid to take advantage of the violence, was loading food item worth Rs300,000 onto a truck on Dec 28. He was still under arrest, they added.Aijaz Malkani, a social worker, said that the stores officers were selling food items to shops at low price, which the shops were selling at high rates.

Mehboob Chandio, a consumer, said that the Utility Stores were selling Sela Kernal Basmati rice for Rs54 per kg, while private shops were selling it for Rs40.

He said that in open market Dal Channa was being sold for Rs44 per kg as against the utility stores’ fixed rate of Rs29 per kg. Dal Mash washed was being sold for Rs60 per kg in the open market while the utility stores were selling it for Rs57 per kg, he said.

The president of the Dadu chapter of Jeay Sindh Students Federation, Mujeeb Panhwar, said that cooking oil was not available at any utility store in Dadu region for last week.

Price of Manpasand cooking oil was Rs67 per kg at the utility store while it was being sold for Rs110 per kg in the open market, he said. He repeated the common complaint that the oil’s shortage was caused by stores officials who were selling it to private shops. They kept very few bags of flour at the stores and sold the rest to shops to skim illegal profits, he alleged.

He urged the Federal Ministry of Industries and Production and Federal Food Committee to direct the stores’ chairman to provide relief to the poor and take action against the corrupt officials.

The USC’s regional manager in Dadu Syed Mohammad Shah said on cellphone that the corporation had increased quota of flour for the stores in Dadu this region.

The in-charge of main Utility Store Syed Javed Shah said that he had informed the zonal office in Karachi about shortage of cooking oil.

He did not rule out officials’ involvement in stealing food items and said that police had arrested an officer for stealing away food items.

He said that the personnel of paramilitary Rangers had got back food items worth of Rs310,000 from the rioters and returned them to the stores.

He said that the stores had distributed 10,000 bags of 10 kg flour among people since Jan 1 and still had 2,300 flour bags in store.

The stores are supposed to supply 38 main items like a bag of 10 kg flour for Rs130, one kg sugar for Rs25, a kilo of low quality Basmati rice for Rs28, a kilo of first quality Basmati rice for Rs54, Sela Kernal Basmati rice for Rs54, Dal Channa for Rs29, Dal Mash Rs57, Dal Moong for Rs42, Dal white Irani for Rs53 and Dal Masoor (local) for Rs59.