KARACHI, June 11: Despite having reaped an all-time record wheat crop of 23.5 million tons this year, the government has not offered any relief on wheat flour in the new budget and the price cuts offered on selected pulses appears to be eyewash for the common man.

The government in its last budget has actually exaggerated the prevailing market rates of pulses in order to present a massive slash to win support from low-income segments for upcoming general elections.

There is a marked difference in the “real market price of pulses compared with market rates quoted by State Minister Omar Ayub Khan in his budget speech on June 9.

No relief in the most hot kitchen item wheat flour (atta) prices is a surprising move by the government as the price of 10-kg flour bag at the stores has already been enhanced to Rs143 from Rs110 in Ramazan and consumers were expecting decrease in the rates in view of a bumper wheat crop.

In the last budget, the government had given a subsidy of Rs2 per kg to bring down the rates to Rs110 from Rs130 per 10-kg bag.

If the government’s unrealistic market rates are taken then the relief announced in pulses appears very charming but keeping in view the real market rates the government has literally succeeded in befooling the consumers.

Many price-conscious consumers on Monday returned empty-handed when utility store officials refused to sell pulses and other items at reduced rates despite having announced by the state minister that new prices would be effective from June 10.

The minister in his budget speech had stated that daal chana, moong and mash would be sold at Rs29, Rs47 and Rs57 per kg at utility stores against the market price of Rs38, Rs56 and Rs72 respectively. However, no revision of dal masoor prices was announced.

Dal channa was selling at Rs34-35 per kg in the open market prior to budget announcement while moong and mash were available at identical rate of Rs55 per kg.

If real market price of dal channa of Rs34-35 per kg is taken then there is hardly any relief for the consumers who have been buying this commodity at Rs32 per kg from the utility stores prior to budget and now they will buy it at Rs29 per kg.

The government has tried to create an impression that the price of dal channa has actually been reduced by Rs9 per kg from the market level but it has been actually reduced by Rs5-6 per kg.

The government has claimed to have cut the rate of dal mash by Rs15 to Rs57 per kg from assumed market price of Rs72. But it is already available at Rs55 per kg in the open market which means that it is being sold at Rs2 per kg premium at utility stores. Dal mash was selling at Rs61 per kg at the utility stores ahead of budget.

In mung, the government claimed that the commodity was selling at Rs56 per kg in the market. However, it is available at Rs55. Now mung will be available at Rs47 at the stores as compared to Rs51 before the budget.

Many utility stores in the city on Monday did not resume selling at newly-announced rates on the grounds that they had not received the notification for price cut.

However, an official of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) talking to Dawn claimed that items announced in the budget had started selling at subsidised rates as the supplies of pulses and other items had already been made available on Sunday.

In case of rice, a relief of Rs5 per kg has been announced on basmati premium but the utility stores will be selling the Basmati rice at Rs45 per kg instead of Rs42 as compared to pre-budget rate of Rs47 per kg. However, in the local market basmati rice is selling at Rs55 per kg.

In case of sugar, the government has offered just Rs1 a kg relief as the sweetener was already selling at Rs26 per kg at the utility stores. It will be available at Rs25 per kg.

However, the commodity in the open market is selling at Rs29-30 per kg but its quality as compared to the subsidised sugar is much better.

A USC official claimed that about 30-40 per cent of the total population was procuring their monthly and daily requirement of kitchen items from the government stores. “The number of regular utility stores in Karachi has surged to 60 from 40 last year. As many as 15 more stores will be opened this month and 13 franchise stores and five mobile stores are already working in the city,” he added.

He said that the utility stores were being opened for common man but not for those who can afford to buy any thing at any price.