MULTAN, Nov 29: DCO Iftikhar Babar on Wednesday ordered DDOs(R), price magistrates and agriculture officials to conduct raids on fertiliser shops and godowns for checking hoarding and profiteering.

While presiding over a price control committee meeting here, the DCO said that officials should run a special campaign and violators should face heavy fines with registration of cases against them.

He said officials should strictly check elements who wanted to usurp the Rs250 subsidy the government had offered to growers on potash and phosphate fertilispers and submit reports regularly to the DCO office.

The DCO asked the DO (livestock) to ensure slaughtering of animals only at the slaughterhouses.

On a complaint from Syed Ishtiaq Jafri regarding the sale of ailing chicken at Old Shujaabad Road, he ordered the livestock department to check the market and take action against violators.

The DCO said that members of the price control committee would be issued special cards.

The meeting observed that prices of sugar and pulses were going down while the price of onion would reduce upon the arrival of new crop in the market.

DDOs(R) also presented their performance report in the meeting.

Among the participants were: EDO (finance) Dr Muhammad Aslam, EDO (revenue) Nabi Bakhsh, DOR Ziaullah Khan, DDOs(R) Ali Akbar Bhatti, Tanweer Iqbal, DO (enterprises) Arshad Hussain and committee members.—APP