MUZAFFARGARH: The district administration has failed to ensure ample supply of sugar to the consumers at the officially fixed rate of Rs71 per kilogram, allowing the mill owners and hoarders to exploit the situation and make hefty profits.

The local shopkeepers and the owners of some department stores Dawn spoke to denied having sugar stocks, blaming the managements of the three sugar mills in the district for the shortage.

Seeking anonymity, they said that while the administration asked them to sell the sweetener at the official rate of Rs71 per kilogram, no sugar mill was ready to charge lower price from them.

“In such a situation how could we sell sugar at official rate,” a shopkeeper said.

Under these circumstances, the ordinary consumers are the ultimate losers as sugar was being sold at Rs105 per kg in the parts of the district where it was available.

Some of the stores are selling “chemical free” sugar at Rs125 per kg.

In rural areas, where there was no monitoring by the district administration, the shopkeepers are charging at their will.

Owner of a grocery shop at a village said there was no shortage of sugar with the hoarders who were charging Rs9,000 for a 100kg bag which meant it cost the shopkeeper Rs90 per kg, arguing how it could be sold at the official rate.

A few days back the district administration had set up an outlet on Kachehry Road to provide sugar to the people at official rate, but it has been closed now, leaving the consumers at the mercy of hoarders and profiteers.

Local ruling party parliamentarians have nothing concrete to defend the government as they resort to conventional ways, pledging the government would “ensure availability of sugar at any cost”. Some of them also blame the shortage on the three sugar mills in the district -- Tandlianwala, Fatima and Sheikhu sugar mills. They also accuse the district administration of failing to check hoarding and profiteering.

Deputy Commissioner Amjad Shoaib Tareen had given the task of ensuring sugar supply to the district officer industries and the assistant commissioners concerned in all the tehsils by checking sugar mills stocks and monitoring the market situation.

Kot Addu Assistant Commissioner Dr Fiaz Jatala said that he was busy checking the market and the sugar mills, claiming strict action was being taken against hoarders who were responsible for the shortage.

The DC claimed there was no “serious” shortage of sugar and that his teams were taking action against the hoarders. He said soon sugar would be available in the market in ample quantities soon.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2020