Steps afoot to cut prices of edibles, says Shafay

LAHORE: Minister of Industry and Commerce Chaudhry Shafay Hussain said here Monday that the government under the leadership of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz is making all out efforts to end inflation and dearness, besides reducing the prices of essential commodities after the historic Ramazan package.

The reduction in the prices of wheat bread (Roti/Naan) is a mega step providing relief to the people, he said and added that all the districts administration have also been directed to ensure the implementation of the decision to reduce the prices of Roti and Naan. The price control committees and other relevant institutions should also play their active role to ensure the sale of Roti at Rs16 and Naan at Rs20, he asserted.

The minister said that measures would continue to make life easier for the people, citing that welfare schemes are being rapidly promoted across the province. He vowed that economy would be stabilised by bringing about an industrial revolution in Punjab. "We will increase employment opportunities by bringing new investments," he mentioned. Minister Shafay Hussain said that Punjab would be made the centre of economic activities in the true sense, and economic policies would be made easy and investor-friendly for the promotion of domestic and foreign investments.

Eight arrested for overcharging on Roti, Naan

After the recent drop in Roti and Naan prices, Punjab Food Minister Bilal Yasin raided markets in different areas of the City to ensure availability at the new notified prices and got eight people arrested on the spot for overcharging in Sanda, Islampura, Rajgarh and Anarkali areas and the shops were sealed after registering FIRs.

Talking to journalists, the minister said that he would visit markets daily in the morning and evening as well and the government would not allow anybody to sell expensive Naan and Roti.

Bilal Yasin said that the price of a 20kg bag of flour had been reduced by Rs500 and the positive effects of this reduction in flour prices should be passed on to the general public. The administration should ensure that Roti is sold at Rs16 and Naan at Rs20 in all areas.