PESHAWAR, Sept 15: Subsidised food items, instead of being sold at government-run Utility Stores, are freely available in markets in the provincial capital, consumers and shopkeepers complain.

They said that since the commencement of Ramazan, there was a shortage of food items in the Utility Stores, especially flour, edible oil and ghee, rendering the Prime Minister’s relief package ineffective.

They said that packing of some items available in the open market, especially edible oil, even carried the official logo of the Utility Stores Corporation.

Rahim Shah, a consumer, said that he had bought a 5-kg packet of USC-branded edible oil from a shop in Hashtnagri for Rs80 a kilogramme. It was supposed to be sold for Rs67 a kilogramme at USC outlets. He said he had visited several Utility Stores but could not find edible oil.

Sharafat Ali Mubarik, general secretary of the NWFP Anjuman-i-Tajiran, said a number of other food items covered under the Ramazan Package were also available in the open market. “This clearly indicated that the government was unable to discourage hoarding,” he said.

He complained that the quality of food items available at the Utility Stores was questionable and the items weighed less than the weight printed on their labels.

Syed Mehtab Binori, regional manager of the USC, conceded that he had received reports about USC-branded edible oil being sold in open market, but he had been unable to pinpoint the origin of its supply. He said that he had taken up the matter with the corporation’s headquarters, adding that appropriate action would be taken soon.