October 04, 2008	Saturday	Shawwal 04, 1429

LAHORE, Oct 3: Contrary to the claims of the provincial government, roti was sold at Rs5 per piece in almost all parts of the city during Eid days.

Taking full advantage of the absence of the inspection teams (formed by the City District Government Lahore), the shopkeepers charged exorbitant rate (of roti) from the customers on Wednesday and Thursday. The excuse given to the customers for charging Rs5 instead of Rs2 was that “they (shopkeepers) were not provided with subsidised flour by the government during the Eid days.

“The shopkeeper did not tell any of the customers that the price of roti was Rs5. After dispatching my order of 20 rotis he asked for Rs100 which was shocking for me. I argued over the price and drew his attention over the banner he displayed in front of his shop, but to no avail,” said Rana Qamar of Township.

He said the sudden increase in roti price disturbed all the customers alike. Most of the shopkeepers offered only ‘khamiri roti’ and ‘naan’ at Rs5 so that in case there was any surprise checking, they would get away with it. “The government should have evolved some inspection mechanism during the Eid days to check the price,” Naveed Manzoor of Ichhra said, adding that the trend would likely to continue after Eid as well. He said mere announcement (by the chief minister) that roti would be available at Rs2 across the city would do no good unless it was implemented in letter and spirit.

“Had the inspection teams or the chief minister visited a couple of tandoors, it would have had a positive impact to ensure the price sustainability,” he said.

There were also reports that (plain) naan was being sold at Rs6 on Mohni Road and the new price had been backed by the naanbai’s association.

The Punjab government is providing a 20kg flour bag on subsidised rate (Rs250) to tandoors whose number in Lahore is around 1,400. The minimum market rate of a 20kg flour bag is Rs300. Many customers have complained that the flour available at Rs300 in the market is of substandard quality.

After having the subsidised flour some two weeks or so ago, the shopkeepers agreed to sell roti at Rs2 with 100 gram weight. However, a good number of them continued selling it on higher rates despite availing themselves of the government facility.

The police arrested a number of shopkeepers in different parts of the city for selling roti at high price, but could not fully control the practice.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had directed the Lahore district coordination officer to strictly implement his order. Why the inspections committees could not implement the order during the Eid days will remain elusive.

Interestingly, the Punjab government is ambitious for providing roti at Rs2 to the people in the province throughout the year. Mr Sharif has already directed the authorities concerned to submit their recommendations in this regard.