TAXILA: As most essential edible items are being sold at prices way higher than those on the official price list because the whole state machinery is busy in floor distribution and visits of big wigs to floor distribution centres, illegal profiteers and hoarders have been given a free hand to charge masses as per their own will making the life of consumers miserable.

It was observed that consumers in Attock find themselves in a fix and helpless as the city administration fails to ensure that food items are sold at official rates.

Massive overcharging along with an increase in the prices of some essential items was witnessed this week while the majority of them were missing from the weekly makeshift markets due to price fixation issues.

Most essential edible items, including flour, meat, dairy products and fruit are being sold at prices way higher than those on the official price list in all six tehsils of Attock.

Flour, meat, dairy being sold at prices higher than official list

Consumers said that daily increase in prices of food items in Attock district has put people in a difficult position. Prices of vegetables, fruits and meat have skyrocketed due to the rupee’s depreciation against the dollar and rising prices of petroleum products.

The district administration and price control committees have badly failed to control the ever increasing prices of fruit and other edibles. A market survey revealed that bananas, which were available at Rs200 per dozen before Ramazan are now being sold at up to Rs400 per dozen, apples from Rs250 per kg to Rs400 per kg, water melon from Rs100 to Rs300 per kilo, oranges from Rs250 to Rs500 per dozen and prices of grapes have jumped from Rs400 to Rs800 per kg.

Similarly, the prices of other fruits and vegetables have also been increased. Consumers say that the district administration was responsible for this mismanagement.

Shahid Khan - a resident accused the administration of joining hands with mafias to create artificial inflation in the province. This supposed collusion, they said, had emboldened shopkeepers and vendors to throw official rate lists in the dustbin and raise prices on a whim.

Tanveer Alvi - a social figure commenting on the issue said that a big problem was that officials were not visiting markets to check the prices of daily-use commodities as they were busy in floor distribution points and arranging visits of VVIPs at these centres.

Awais Mirza, JI local leader accused relevant authorities, including the provincial government and district administration of giving profiteers a free rein, and complained that price control committees are apparently doing nothing to address the issue.

Qazi Ahmed Akbar, PTI district president, said that the district administration has adopted complete silence on the issue of inflation.

When contacted, a spokesman of the district administration said that price control magistrates are making effort towards implementing an official price list. He added that a heavy fine has been imposed on shopkeepers for illegal profiteering during this month.

People from different walks of life including political, social, religious and other circles of Attock have asked the chief minister of Punjab and chief secretary to take steps to control the price hike as people need other edibles as well.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2023