Official price list of grocery items issued for Ramazan

The city administration has finalised and published the list of prices of grocery items for the holy month of Ramazan starting tomorrow (Tuesday).

According to a statement issued on Sunday, the price list was finalised after consultations with the stakeholders, including representatives of the associations of wholesalers, retailers, consumers and officials of the Bureau of Supply and Prices in a series of meetings held at the Commissioner Office, according to a press release issued here on Sunday.

It was also decided that the price list of fruits and vegetables would be issued during Ramazan in the mornings on a daily basis after the Market Committee finalised the prices of fruits and vegetables in the presence of an official of the district administration.

During the meetings, Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani directed all the deputy commissioners (DCs) to strictly ensure that the consumers were able to purchase food items at the prices fixed by the city administration and the market committee.

The DCs were also directed to take action against the vendors, including the department stores, who violated the price lists of fruits, vegetables and other grocery items. The commissioner warned the violators that they would be dealt with strictly according to the law.

To ensure the implementation of the fixed prices for fruits, vegetables and food items, the assistant commissioners and Mukhtarkars have been assigned inspection duties. The city administration has issued a roster so that officials of the city and district administration could carry out their duties accordingly and their performance could be monitored.

According to the price list, both potato and mince Samosas would be sold at Rs180 a dozen. The prices of Jalebi, Khajla and Phayni have been fixed at Rs240, Rs320 and Rs332 per kilogramme (kg) respectively.

The price of 250 grammes (g) of plain bread has been fixed at Rs28 whereas 500 g of bread will be sold at Rs50. The rusks (papa) will be sold at Rs220 per kilogramme.

The list also specifies both the wholesale and retail prices of various categories of flour, rice and pulses. The wholesale and retail prices of Fine Aata (a category of flour) have been fixed at Rs42 and Rs44 per kg respectively while the wholesale and retail prices of sugar are Rs64 and Rs66 per kg respectively. The price list specifies the wholesale and retail price of Baisan as Rs104 and Rs111 per kg respectively.

The broiler chickens are to be sold at Rs190 per kg while their meat is to be sold at Rs295 per kg. The city administration has also warned the department stores not to violate the prices of food items fixed by the city administration. The stores’ representatives were called in a meeting at the Commissioner Office where they were told that they would also be penalised if found violating the prices fixed by the city administration. On the directives of the commissioner, a complaint centre has been set up at the Commissioner Office where people can lodge their complaints.

Traffic, heat

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar said as many as 1,000 city wardens would facilitate the citizens during Ramazan by managing traffic along with the traffic police at 45 major points of the city.

During a meeting held at his office on Sunday, the mayor also announced that medical camps would also be established at 15 locations across the city to provide aid to the public during hot days.

Akhtar said now it was the responsibility of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) and K-Electric (KE) to provide water and power to the citizens during Ramazan without any break, especially during Iftar and Sehar.

The mayor also urged the relevant authorities to lift garbage accumulated in various areas of the city as it caused diseases. He also appealed to the citizens not to throw garbage on the streets.

He said people should park their vehicles properly as haphazard parking caused severe traffic issues. He maintained that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, despite its limited resources, would provide maximum facilities to the citizens during the holy month.

Load-shedding

A spokesperson for the KE said that unless the KE was supplied additional power from the national grid, it could not guarantee an end to load-shedding during Sehar and Iftar.

The KE official maintained that the power utility had been engaging with the relevant authorities for quite some time to bridge the anticipated supply shortfall during the peak summer in Karachi and get the provision of additional power approved from the energy ministry.

The load-shedding exemption for residential power customers in Karachi during Sehar and Iftar would be announced as soon as the KE’s request for additional supply of electricity was approved by the authority concerned, the spokesperson said.