Rawalpindi
It seems the officials of City District Government Rawalpindi CDGR are unaware of the prices of daily consumable items like meat, pulses, firewood, coal, rice, milk and several other items sold in city markets. Once again, the District Price Control Committee has issued official price list of daily consumable items, in which its officials have fixed the price of mutton at Rs500 and beef at Rs280 per kilogram, whereas one kilogram of mutton is already being sold at Rs680 and Rs700, while beef at Rs350 to Rs400.
According to a notification issued by the District Price Control Committee, the price of firewood is Rs18 per kilogram but it is being sold at Rs22, coal is Rs56 and it is being sold at Rs60. The price of mutton is Rs500 per kilogram, while it is being sold at Rs680 to700. Beef is being sold at Rs350-Rs400 per kilogram instead of Rs280. Red chilli price is Rs288, but it is being sold at the rate of Rs325 per kilogram. Gram flour price is at Rs130 but it is being sold at Rs140 per kilogram. ‘Gur’ is Rs95 per kilogram and its selling price is Rs120, basmati rice is Rs95 and it is being sold from Rs130 to150 per kilogram, ‘daal channa’ is being sold at Rs140 instead of Rs115, ‘daal mong’ price is Rs130 but its price in the market is Rs170 per kilogram, ‘daal masoor’ rate is Rs135 but it is being sold at Rs170, 'white channa’ price is Rs130 while it is being sold at Rs150 per kilogram in the market.
Similarly, the District Price Control Committee has fixed the rate of milk at Rs70 but milkmen are selling it at Rs85 to Rs100 per litre. The concerned authority has ordered milkmen to sell yogurt at Rs80 per kg but it is sold at Rs100.
The Price Control Committee also made a big joke by fixing the price of 100-gram ‘roti’ at Rs5 and 120-gram ‘naan’ price at Rs7. Whereas a less weight ‘roti’ is sold at Rs7 and ‘naan’ at Rs8.
It is pertinent to mention that for more than two years, 'naanbais' are selling ‘roti’ at Rs7 and ‘naan’ at Rs8 without any notification and at some ‘tandoorwalas’ are selling ‘naan’ at Rs10.
The figures show the non-serious attitude of the CDGR as its officials are only doing paperwork and dealing with public-related issues casually.
In papers, the local management is showing that all kitchen items are available at low prices but the story is quite different.
Customers, especially those having low income, are perturbed over the ever-increasing prices of daily consumable items. Shopkeepers are charging high prices as there is no check and balance by price control magistrates. In fact, the CDGR is only relying on paperwork rather than checking violations of prices in the market.
Additional District Collector General (ADCG) Imran Qureshi told ‘The News’ that they are continuously visiting city markets to control prices. "We have also registered dozens of FIRs and imposed fines on profiteers," he claimed. He said that they were fully trying to implement the prices issued by the CDGR.
Rawalpindi Naanbais Welfare Association (RNWA) President Shafiq Qureshi said that nobody could sell 100-gram ‘roti’ for Rs5 because the government has increased the gas tariff. “If the local management is not taking back the new notification of ‘roti’ and ‘naan’ prices then we would shutdown all ‘tandoors’ in the city,” he warned. He said that the government has totally failed to provide them gas and they are using LPG cylinders.
While talking to ‘The News,’ people said that the CDGR is only doing paperwork rather than keeping a check on prices.
