FOR a long time now, increases in the price of essential commodities have been significant enough to get people protesting. However, the issue has not received its due share of attention from successive governments.

The prices of vegetables, fruit and poultry are fixed on a daily basis by the relevant market committees through an open auction completed before dawn. Collusion between commission agents and market committee officials results in the issuance of 'fake' price lists on which there is no check because genuine consumer associations are virtually non-existent here.

This problem can be resolved by establishing vigilant consumer associations at the mohallah and village level, with a system of cross-checking by the district coordination officer and assistant commissioners through their physical presence at the auction. This makes a difference, as I learnt while posted as assistant commissioner at Kharian. I used to visit the market committee at the time of auction and, resultantly, vegetable prices went down some 30-50 per cent per kilo.

Other essential items are listed on a schedule attached to the Price Control Act 1977. No governmental authority or magistrate has the power to check the price of any article not mentioned in the schedule. These items originally numbered 66 but over the years, the connivance of the industrialist/trader lobby with the bureaucracy has seen the list being whittled down to 38. This was done illegally, through the issuance of statutory notifications (SROs). It is important that the schedule be re-examined.

Then, a lacuna in the Price Control Act 1977 is that it does not spell out the rules regarding procedural matters, making proper implementation difficult. As the law stands, it is silent even on who can lodge a complaint in terms of price control.

The prices of essential items listed on the schedule (other than vegetables, fruit and poultry) are fixed by a district price control committee, usually on a monthly basis. At the time prices are fixed, most participants belong to the traders' community and there is little, if any, participation by consumers. Traders are therefore able to increase rates with ease.

Then, there is the issue of 'price magistrates'. The magistracy system was abolished by Pervez Musharraf but he had to restore the price magistrates in 2006. The powers held by the price magistrates were given to officers of the local government, health, education and revenue departments. Except for those of the revenue department, however, these officers had no training — and were never given any — for checking pricing. Even today, the system is ineffective.

In terms of price control, even seemingly small matters such as ease of movement are important. Some price magistrates have not been provided official vehicles. Is it possible to conduct a raid using a bus or rickshaw? Then, price magistrates are often unable to muster sufficient police forces to conduct a raid. The could be resolved by constituting special police teams, along the pattern of excise and taxation and income tax, with two or four police officials attached to every price magistrate.

Also needed is an unbiased, transparent and effective monitoring system to keep price magistrates in check. Particularly during Ramazan, provincial governments bring pressure to bear on price magistrates to arrest people who have been defying price control laws. These targets are usually met and reports are sent out on a daily basis.

However, there is no system of cross-checking whether the offenders were awarded punishment or released due to the levying of external pressure. District administration reports should be cross-verified at a high level, and price magistrates must be rewarded or punished accordingly. Currently, no system of reward for duties discharged honourably is in place.

Every tehsil has villages that are far from the tehsil headquarters and, consequently, are never visited by the price magistrates. In fact, there is no system of maintaining such data in the assistant commissioner's office. Resultantly, shopkeepers that are near the price magistrates' office are checked again and again, while those in remoter areas function free of oversight. The need is to maintain data on all villages, towns and cities, and the traders operating there at the tehsil level. In large cities, it is essential that price magistrates be appointed full-time and not be given any other assignments.

There are also issues with what exactly the price magistrates may review. As the law stands, they can check merely the prices but not the weighing and measuring of the commodity.

The country would benefit if there were toll-free complaint numbers and cells from the tehsil level to that of the provincial chief minister, with the cellphone numbers of organisational heads being well-publicised.

The supply lines of essential commodities must be made more reliable and efficient. Items that have to be imported, whatever the reason, must be imported in advance, with the consumer paying import costs to the government rather than the latter earning profits by taxing the items.

Bureaucrats and politicians of a literary bent would greatly benefit from reading the price control policy instituted by Alauddin Khilji, ruler of India from 1296 to 1316. Not only did he fix the prices of all items, from salt to slaves, his administration also controlled supplies and ensured the success of his system by handing out severe punishments to offenders.

It is not too difficult to bring down the prices of essential items by at least 20 per cent in one go. All it needs is sufficient political will.

The writer is a civil servant.

rai_manzoornasir@yahoo.com