TAXILA: The Ramazan market established by the town administration has failed to draw praise despite a Rs4 billion subsidy to provide citizens with essential commodities.

The market set up along the G.T. Road near Taxila Chowk just before Ramazan began to provide daily food items such as fresh vegetables, fruit, oil and flour at subsidised rates received complaints that while items were priced below the market rate, their quality was not up to the standard.

“You cannot buy good things at low rates. Low rates mean compromised quality,” Mohammad Imran, a customer, said.

Another buyer, Saba Pervaiz, said the market served little purpose when customers could not find what they were looking for, and what they were looking for was out of their reach.

“Local markets are much better than this Ramazan bazaar, at least you can find most products there,” she said.

“Even though people visited the bazaar over the last two days, they returned disappointed because there was little variety in the food items on offer,” said Haji Mohammad Saleem, who lives nearby.

“There is nothing worth buying here except little variety of dates, rotten fruit, substandard vegetables and a controlled supply of sugar and flour,” he added.

“I visited the Taxila Ramazan bazaar, where bananas were being sold for Rs100 per dozen but they were rotten and small,” said Shahida Parveen.

Good apples were being sold for Rs190 per kilogram, buyer Kiran Naheed added, but they vanished within a complete round of the market. The ones left behind were rotten and offered for Rs100 per kg. She added that there was no difference between the prices of pulses at the Ramazan bazaar and the open market.

While the government is providing affordable food items at Ramazan markets, it also appears the local administration has given the open market carte blanche to charge at will. As a result, the prices of high quality edible items have skyrocketed.

Customers have been bracing for a costly Ramazan this year, with the prices of nearly all essential items – including meat, ghee, cooking oil, flour, onions, chicken and fruit – have seen a significant increase in the last few days.

Locals have said that essential commodities such as pulses, sugar, rice, chicken, beef, mutton, vegetables and fruit have seen a staggering increase in price, which average citizens cannot afford to meet.

There has also been no action against price hikes in various markets in Taxila and Wah. Bananas are being sold for Rs150 to Rs250 a dozen, while watermelon costs Rs70 to Rs80 per kg, compared to the average pre-Ramazan price of Rs40 per kg.

Apples are priced between Rs200 and Rs350, while dates – used to break fasts in Ramazan – have also seen a price increase in the last two weeks. Some varieties have already become more expensive, such as Muzafati dates sold at Rs300 to Rs400 per kg compared to Rs200 last year. Iranian dates now cost Rs200 to Rs250, compared to Rs150 to Rs170 per kg last year.

“The Punjab government generally and the local government especially have failed their people. If it was so keen on arranging people-friendly bazaars, the least they could do was set them up in an effective manner so people could also benefit from them,” former MPA Prof Mohammad Waqas Khan said.

Local PML-N leader Barrister Aqeel Ahmed accused the government of neglect and claimed the local government has demanded that the government take concrete measures to end profiteering and bring relief to the public during this month.

Assistant Commissioner Usman Tariq was not available for comment despite repeated attempts. Tehsil Officer Shahibzada Imran, when contacted, said the local administration has been working to make all basic commodities available at the Ramazan market.

To another question, he said price magistrates will crack down on profiteering to curb the artificial price hike in the local markets soon.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2019