RAWALPINDI: The price of a bag of flour weighing 10kg has been reduced to Rs490 from Rs630 to provide relief to the people.

As many as 50,000 bags will be available daily in Rawalpindi district at subsidised rates for which 278 sale points will be set up in the garrison city.

This was announced by Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Tahir Farooq while inaugurating a sale point at Bani Chowk. PML-N leaders Raja Hanif, Haji Pervaiz and Ziaullah Shah were also present.

The PML-N leaders said the reduction in the price of wheat flour had been made under the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz.

A 20kg bag of flour will be available at Rs980, they said, adding wheat was being provided to flour mills on an emergency basis as all steps had been taken to ensure that it was supplied to flour mills, markets and sale points.

“We will monitor the prices. A thorough inspection of flour mills is underway so that people do not face any difficulty in accessing cheap flour,” Mr Farooq said, adding a foolproof mechanism had been devised for the supply of subsidised flour to the market. He said that the government would also decrease prices of sugar and ghee.

On the other hand, Rawalpindi Merchant Association chief Saleem Pervaiz Butt said with the devaluation of the rupee against the dollar the rates of pulses had increased. He said the rate of masoor increased to Rs280 per kg in the wholesale market while the district administration had fixed the price at Rs250 per kg.

“We demanded rationalisation of the official price list as it will be difficult for shopkeepers to sell masoor for Rs30 less,” he said and added that the new price list would be issued on weekly basis.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2022