RAWALPINDI: Conscious of its sliding popularity, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is ramping up its contacts with the public in Ramazan. Party leaders and lawmakers from the garrison city have been asked to ensure their presence at the various Ramazan bazaars in the district.

The directives come from the provincial government and call upon party leaders to, alongside the district administration, hear the people’s grievances and improve the condition of the bazaars by ensuring the supply of subsidised wheat flour, sugar, cooking oil and vegetables.

A senior party leader told Dawn the government wanted to involve local leaders to watch over the Ramazan bazaars because the party’s leadership “did not trust district government officials”.

“Officials would send glowing reports about Ramazan bazaars to the provincial government, the content of which did not reflect the situation on the ground in many areas.

Asks leaders, ex-lawmakers to monitor district admin teams; move seen as publicity stunt to counter PTI, PAT challenges

Therefore, the PML-N has resolved to impose a second layer of checks on the district administration and the police,” he said.

“The party is worried about its image in the public eye following the anti-government campaigns launched by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the Tahirul Qadri-led Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).”

He said the government could improve image by reducing loadshedding or ensuring that the people received as much relief as possible during Ramazan.

In addition, PML-N lost a lot of ground to parties such as the PTI in the last general elections.

This means that many stalwarts, such as former MNAs Hanif Abbasi and Shakil Awan, are currently free to pursue activities in their constituency rather than being preoccupied with the business of the state. The party is counting on such faces to win back support.

In this context, a meeting of the Ramazan package committee was held at the DCO office on Thursday. Chaired by MNA Raja Javed Ikhlas, it was attended by PML-N lawmakers Malik Ibrar, Tahira Aurengzeb, Asfand Yar Bhindara and MPAs Raja Hanif Advocate, Malik Iftikhar, Shaukat Aziz Bhatti and Zaibun Nisa Awan. PML-N leader Hafiz Usman and DCO Sajid Zafar Dall were also present.

MNA Raja Javed Ikhlas said the local parliamentarians and PML-N leaders should visit the Ramazan bazaars in their areas on a daily basis and send their reports to him so that quality food items could be provided to the consumers at affordable rates.

But observers feel that this is just a publicity stunt. A Dawn survey of Ramazan bazaars revealed that while prices of food items were mostly lower than open market rates, the quality of those foodstuffs left a lot to be desired.

People usually buy items such as wheat flour or cooking oil once or twice in the whole month.

It is perishable items, such as fruits and vegetables, which are the real problem.

Many customers complained about the quality of Indian bananas, being sold at Ramazan bazaars at nearly half the price of local fruit.

While being cheaper than the imported fruit, they are far smaller and less nutritious than the bananas available in the open market, said Naya Mohallah-resident Mohammad Jamil.

Potatoes, which are sold for Rs100/kg in the open market, are available at Rs80/kg at Ramazan bazaars, but most visitors complain that they are not too small for dishes such as pakoras.

Peaches and plums are being sold at exorbitant rates, valued at Rs190/kg and Rs200/kg, respectively.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2014