Steps being taken to control inflation: Hashim

LAHORE:Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakhat has said the government established Sahulat Bazar Authority to control food inflation and the authority would set up Sahulat bazaars across the province.

The government has allocated Rs1.5 billion in the budget for the purpose so that all essential items could be provided to the people at officially-fixed rates under one roof.

Further, the government had given Rs86 billion subsidy to keep the flour prices low in the ongoing fiscal year, said the provincial minister during a meeting with YouTubers and Veloggers. He said that global rise in food prices also affected Pakistan like the other countries of the world were affected.

He said Pakistan had been dependent on imported cooking oil and pulses for the last four decades while during this time not a single policy maker thought to end this import-based dependency by increasing the domestic production of oilseeds and pulses.

He mentioned that investment would be made to increase grain production through a comprehensive Rs100 billion agriculture package planted in the budget. Adoption of modern technology will be encouraged for this while 306 per cent increase in the agriculture budget will ensure prosperity to the farmers.

The provincial finance minister stated that at present there were 362 Sahulat bazaars operating in Punjab where quality food items were being provided to the people at affordable prices. He said the purpose of setting up Sahulat bazaars was to stop inflation created by the vendors. The Punjab government is taking a number of steps to control inflation; one of which is to increase the purchasing power of the people by eliminating unemployment. The government employees who do not receive any additional allowance with basic salary from grade I to 19 are also being provided 25 per cent special allowance with a general increase of 10 per cent in salaries.

Further, the minimum wage for daily wage earners has been increased from Rs17,000 to Rs20,000. Hashim believed that illness was the biggest challenging time an average commoner which directly affected the household budget. To reduce this burden on the people of Punjab, the government is providing health cards to 110 million people of the province in the first six months of next year, which they can use to get free treatment from any government or non-government hospital near their home. The biggest plan in the education sector this year is the upgrade of 8,500 primary schools, which will bring back to children to school who had dropped out of school after primary education. He said that health and sanitation facilities and road infrastructure would be provided in 22 districts of Punjab through Rs 100 billion district development programme in the next financial year. The Human Development Programme will ensure supply of clean drinking water in 16 tehsils of Punjab. All of these projects will be far more useful than the concrete infrastructure that the previous governments had built in the past, he added.

Responding to questions from the representatives of digital media, the provincial minister said that the budget of the present government was a budget for human development in which every section was represented. Other than construction and repair of roads, Rs 500 million have been allocated for scholarships for talented students so that they could study and take up decent employment. Furthermore, development projects of more than Rs 10 billion are gender-focused in the next financial year's budget for mother and child health care as well as protection of women miners and working women. The focus of the budget is providing a safe environment, he added.