LAHORE, Oct 19: Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has decided to impose a ban on inter-district transportation of atta in the province in case the flour mills owners fail to ensure its availability at the prescribed rates within a week.
Presiding over a meeting held here on Tuesday to review the availability of 20 kg atta bags at the subsidized rates under the Ramazan Package, the chief minister ordered a 500 ton increase in daily release of wheat to the mills in the provincial metropolis for improving the flour supply position.
He said all provincial ministers should monitor the supply of atta in their respective districts and ensure that it is not transported from one place to another for profiteering. He said that the administration should ensure free availability of atta in the market.
The chief minister was informed that arrangements had been made to provide five million atta bags to the people at the subsidized rate of Rs190 during the holy month.
The provincial government was giving a subsidy of Rs175 million for providing cheap atta to the people this year against a subsidy of Rs75 million last year. Nearly 6,000 tons of flour was being transported to other provinces daily.
MEAT PRICES: Mutton and beef retail prices are expected to be increased in the near future because the same are no longer available at the fixed rates of Rs150 and Rs60 per kg in the provincial metropolis.
The City District Government has stopped arresting the butchers and lodging FIRs against them for selling meat at rates higher than the fixed prices in anticipation of a price review.
The need for price review was felt when overcharging continued even after the arrest of hundreds of butchers and lodging of FIRs against them.
The CDG officials bought half a dozen cows and buffaloes and nearly a dozen goats and sheep from the open market and got the same slaughtered at the Kot Kamboh, Shalimar and Shahdara slaughterhouses for working out the meat price. Beef cost around Rs69 per kilo and the mutton between Rs169 to Rs182.
The CDG officials will repeat the exercise after Ramazan and propose a suitable increase in the retail prices of meat.
Increase in meat prices has been necessitated because its supply is decreasing on account of a sharp decline in the number of animals being slaughtered in the city during the past four years.
Total number of buffaloes, cows and camels slaughtered at the three abattoirs has decreased from 129,915 in 2000-01 to 73,387 in 2003-4 i.e 43.6 per cent. Similarly the total number of goats and sheep decreased from 1,749,145 in 2000-01 to 1,322,464 in 2003-4 i.e by 24.4 per cent.