LAHORE: The Punjab government has ordered immediate removal of all ‘inactive’ price control magistrates to ensure that relief package reaches everybody during Ramazan.

Chairing a meeting at the Civil Secretariat on Friday, Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman directed that dynamic officers be deputed to replace those failing to monitor markets effectively.

He said the Punjab Enforcement Regularity Authority (Pera) must focus its full attention on price regulation to ensure that the public received the relief during the month of fasting.

The meeting reviewed the availability of wheat flour, sugar, ghee, vegetables and issued orders for urgent measures to stabilise tomato prices.

The chief secretary asked the deputy commissioners in Lahore and Rawalpindi to further strengthen the monitoring mechanisms to prevent artificial price hikes.

The meeting lauded the Nigehban Ramazan Dastarkhwans in Faisalabad and Gujranwala, while confirming plans to expand the service in Sahiwal, DG Khan and Bahawalpur.

The officials briefed the meeting that the authorities inspected more than 61,000 spots across the province on Thursday and found over 4,000 violations, leading to 381 arrests and fines totaling more than Rs5.5m.

In one instance, two stalls at the Madar-e-Millat Ramazan Bazaar were shut down following complaints of overcharging, with show-cause notices issued to the staff in charge.

The district administrations also took disciplinary action in Mianwali, Okara, and Gujrat following reports of irregularities related to Nigheban Ramazan cards.

Food Safety and Consumer Protection Department Secretary Dr Kiran Khurshid told the meeting that 428 Nigehban Ramadan Dastarkhwans were currently operational, serving over 100,000 people daily.

She mentioned that significant quantities of essential food items had already been moved through Ramazan bazaars, including more than 25 metric tonnes of sugar and 218,000 bags of flour, with senior officials directly supervising auctions at nearly 99 wholesale markets to maintain price stability.

The chief executive officer of Urban Unit, Additional IG Special Branch and officials concerned attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2026