FAISALABAD: The Punjab government will sell the imported sugar in the open market through the Sugar Dealers Association and the deputy commissioners have been asked to submit the names of such dealers.

However, the small-time traders have criticised this approach and urged the government to adopt alternative ways.

The cane commissioner through a letter sent to all the DCs of Punjab, said that Trading Corporation of Pakistan was importing 151,700 metric tons of sugar for Punjab. He said that the imported sugar was proposed to be distributed to the retailers in the district through the Punjab Sugar Dealers Association. Pricing mechanism will be communicated by industries, commerce, investment and skills development department.

He said the detailed instructions/TORs would be shared after the approval of the provincial cabinet. The deputy commissioners have been asked to intimate the name of the dealer/wholesaler through whom the sugar shall be sold by the district administration to the retailers.

The DCs have also been asked to name a focal person, preferably the additional deputy commissioner (general), for the whole exercise of distribution of imported sugar.

Local traders have criticised the approach of the government saying that the people who are instruments of the sugar mills which are responsible for the current sugar crisis are again being used to sell the commodities.

Nadeem, who runs a grocery store in Ghulam Muhammad Abad, said that if the small traders would be given sugar thorough wrong elements, people would not get any sort of relief. He said instead of selling sugar through the dealers association, the government must fix some points from where the shopkeepers could purchase the sugar.

He said a committee must be formed to monitor the selling of sugar to the small shopkeepers otherwise the millers with the help of wholesalers would purchase the commodity to again run the market according to their own sweet will.

The entire selling record must be computerised and the list of selling be made public so that the masses can check that whether shopkeepers who obtained the imported sugar sell it in his respective area or not, suggested Ali, who works at a mart.

He said when the mart could keep the record of each product then why government could not make arrangements to ensure transparency. It has been observed that focus of the administration was on the small traders rather than fix the big dealers of sugar who were twisting the market following the instructions of mills.

However, a district government official dispelled the impression that only the small traders had been fixed and others were ignored. He said that one could check that a case had been registered and investigation launched against the two mills to ascertain whether both mills had sold sugar against a fake dealer, Anees.

The officer said that big marts of Faisalabad had also been sealed and fined on charges of selling commodities at exorbitant rates.

Anees approached the assistant commissioner Tandlianwala by submitting an application that about Rs 20 million worth of sugar had been sold in his name although he had nothing to do with the sugar business. Anees is a property dealer and he helped the administration trace the truck loaded with the sugar bags issued in his (Anees) name.

Farooq Malik, the wholesale dealer of the grain market of Tandlianwala, received the truck and named in the FIR registered a couple of days ago.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2020