KARACHI, Nov 10: The All-Pakistan Small Shopkeepers’ Federation has demanded of Sindh chief minister and the city Nazim to order an inquiry against the responsible officials of the enterprise and investment promotion department of city government for fixing the prices of some essential items higher than the pre-Ramazan rates.

It also demanded that the officials concerned should be asked that why they permitted a group to sell the official price lists to shopkeepers when the federation had offered to distribute the same to shopkeepers free of cost.

The federation’s chairman, S.M. Tauqeer, who called on Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar on Monday, later told Dawn that the delegation apprised the chief minister that wholesalers were provided benefit while preparing the price list, because one or two rupees had been increased on almost all items as compared to pre-Ramazan rates.

The CM, he said, gave a patient hearing to his delegation and assured them that he would bring all such anomalies in the notice of the City Nazim. He also asked the delegation to extend full cooperation to the Nazim in keeping the prices of all essential items, including meat, at reasonable rates.

Accusing the officials of the department concerned of fixing Ramazan prices of some essential items higher than those prevailing prior to Ramazan, the federation chief said that the wholesale rate fixed in the official price list for Bason is Rs24 per kilogram whereas the same commodity was being sold for Rs22 per kg prior to Ramazan.

Similarly, the wholesale rate for Dal Channa (Grade 2) in the official list has been fixed at Rs19 per kg as against its pre- Ramazan rate of Rs17 per kg.

About super Karnal Basmati rice, he said that its wholesale rate had been fixed at Rs30 per kg whereas it was available for Rs28 per kg before Ramazan. Besides, he alleged that most of the wholesalers had made it a practice to market the rice after mixing 10kg of Irri-6 and Irri-9 in one kilogram of super Basmati.

Pointing out another flaw in the price list, he said the rate of sugar was not mentioned in it although this commodity was abundantly used in Ramazan and as such some shopkeepers were selling it between Rs20 and Rs21 as against the pre-Ramazan rates of Rs19 per kg.

Referring to a resolution adopted at a meeting of the federation held on Saturday, he said that the meeting while expressing its concern over the faulty price list had alleged that the officials belonging to the enterprise and investment promotion department charged a hefty amount from a group of shopkeepers for permitting it to sell the official price list, each costing Rs10, to shopkeepers and grocery shops.

“It is beyond one’s comprehension that when the All-Pakistan Small Shopkeepers’ Federation through a letter (No APSSF/786/NA- CDGK/031/03) written to the City Nazim on Oct 18, 2003, has offered to distribute the city government’s approved price lists to shopkeepers and general stores free of cost, why the officials concerned gave permission to a group for selling the same,” he said.

“Either the city government should have allowed the federation to distribute the price lists among shopkeepers free of cost or the same should have been sold by the city government’s department concerned,” the resolution said, adding that had the city government itself sold the price lists it would have generated over four million rupees only under the head of grocery shops’ price lists and another million of rupees by selling price lists to pushcarts selling fruits and vegetables.