RAWALPINDI: The district administration on Saturday fixed the price of mutton at Rs800 per kg but butchers refused to implement it.

Punjab Minister for Literacy and Non Formal Basic Education Raja Rashid Hafeez chaired a meeting of the district price control committee at the deputy commissioner office. MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafique, MPA Chaudhry Adnan, Deputy Commissioner Omer Jehangir and other officials were present.

The committee finalised only the price of mutton and deferred decisions on the prices of beef, poultry products, milk, curd and other edibles for a few days as there was no consensus among traders and the administration.

Though the district administration fixed the price of mutton at Rs800 per kg, it is still selling at Rs950 to Rs1,000 per kg in the market while beef is available at Rs500 to Rs600 per kg.

When contacted, All-Pakistan Jamiatul Quraish Meat Welfare Association Chairman Khurshid Ahmed Qureshi told Dawn: “We will not accept the fixation of mutton and beef prices without our consultation. It is not possible for us to purchase mutton at Rs880 per kg and sell it at Rs800 per kg. We have asked butchers to continue selling it at the actual rate.”

He said the association was not consulted before fixing the price of mutton.

“We had been invited last week for consultation but when we visited the deputy commissioner office, the administration canceled the meeting due to engagements of its senior officials.”

He said there was shortage of animals in the open market and butchers were facing problems in finding animals to slaughter and sell the meat.

“Animals are being exported to UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries creating a shortage in the local markets,” he said.

“In coming days, the price of mutton and beef will further increase because supply of animals is hindered due to snowfall in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. In Punjab, fog created problems for transportation of animals to main markets in northern Punjab,” he said.

Mr Qureshi said there was a wide gap between the demand and supply and in such a situation the price of mutton and beef could not be reduced.

“The district administration and the deputy commissioner fixed the price of mutton just to inform the government that they have reduced the prices of edibles but the ground reality is different,” he contended.He said the government issued statistics about the price situation and it was stated that the price of mutton ranged from Rs900 to Rs950 per kg and beef Rs500 to Rs600 per kg.

“The federal and provincial governments have issued directions for ensuring availability of edibles at actual prices but the district administration fixed an unrealistic price,” he said.

Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner directed price magistrates to visit markets and check whether or not mutton was being sold at the new price.

He said the price magistrates should impose fines on those butchers who failed to implement the price issued by the district administration.

He also informed the meeting that prices of poultry products and other edible items such as pulses, spices, sugar, rice, wheat and dairy products would be announced later as the representatives of poultry, wholesale market traders and shopkeepers did not turn up at the meeting.

He directed the district price control committee to convene a meeting of the representatives of traders to prepare the new price list.

Minister Hafeez said it was the responsibility of shopkeepers to install the price list issued by the district administration on prominent places in their business centres.

The meeting was informed that the prices of vegetables and fruits were linked to demand and supply but the district administration was working to prevent hoarding, black marketing and overcharging.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2019