RAWALPINDI: Special Branch on Thursday presented a report to Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood identifying the areas where shopkeepers were violating the price list of the government.

After receiving the report, the commissioner directed the administration of the four districts of Rawalpindi division to implement the price fixed by the market committees and no negligence would be tolerated in this regard.

In a report, special branch identified areas around Airport, Pirwadhai, Wah Cantonment, Mandra, Kallar Syedan, Chountra and Kotli Sattian where shopkeepers mostly were found involved in overcharging.

The report said Jand, Fatehjang and Hassanabdal in Attock, Sohawa, Mangla Cantonment and Pind Dadan Khan in Jhelum, and Chakwal city, Talagang city, Choa Syedan Shah, Lawa, Dewalian and Kallar Kahar in Chakwal are other areas where violations were reported.

In Rawalpindi, the district administration fixed the price of Roti at Rs7 and Naan at Rs10 but it was being sold at Rs10 and Rs15 respectively.

Sugar is being sold at Rs100 per kg to Rs105 per kg in some areas. The official price of vegetable oil is Rs246 per kg but it is available at Rs250 per kg.

In vegetables, potatoes official price is Rs76-80 but it is available at Rs80-90 per kg; tomatoes was available at Rs120-130 per kg against its official price of 105-115; onion official price is Rs66-70 per kg but it is available at Rs75-90 per kg and Daal Channa official price is Rs140-150 per kg but available in market at Rs140-160 per kg.

After seeing the report, the commissioner asked the district administration to speed up the drive against the profiteers and said that provincial government wanted to provide relief to the people and bring down the prices of edibles as soon as possible.

The officials informed the meeting, that in last 11 days the district administrations imposed Rs3.054 million fines on 1,514 violators across the division and arrested seven shopkeepers. The meeting was informed that subsidized sugar in Sahulat Bazaars of Rawalpindi division was being sold to the people at Rs82 per kg and in open market sugar is being sold at Rs84 per kg. The officials said that assistant commissioners had been monitoring the situation.

They further informed the meeting that Rawalpindi district got 1,094 tons sugar against the quota of 1,230 tons, Attock district got 130 tons against the quota of 428 ton, Chakwal received 60 tons against the quota of 340 tons and Jhelum got 390 tons against the quota of 278 tons.

They informed te meeting that 56 Sahulat bazaars were to be set up across the division out of which 53 had already been established.

So far 6,269 complaints have been registered in Qeemat App of Punjab government and as many as 6,256 have been solved.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2020