RAWALPINDI – City district government Rawalpindi (CDGR) has badly failed to control prices of daily use items, particularly wheat flour, as flour is not available in the market at Rs 670 the fixed price for a 20-kg bag of atta.
Nowadays, the citizens are facing shortage of atta or buying it against high rates of Rs 820, the price of 20-kg bag. Though, the District Price Control Committee (DPCC) fixed the price for a 20-kg bag of atta at Rs 670 and also fixed rates of other edibles such as rice, salt, ghee, cooking oil and pulses but not a single shopkeeper is selling the items as per the rates fixed by DPCC.
According to a survey, conducted by APP, it was revealed that shopkeepers either are selling 20-kg bag of atta against Rs 785 to 820 to consumers or creating so called shortage of the commodity besides earning illegal profit from Rs 5 to 15 on other daily use items in almost all market of the town.
It has also been observed that majority of the shopkeepers and vendors are not displaying rate lists at visible places.
While, the CDGR high-ups including Commissioner Imdad Ullah Bosal, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar, Chairman DPCC and Special Price Magistrates (SPMs) are doing nothing and solid steps could not be taken to control prices. The citizens have urged the district administration to take action against the “Naanbais” who have increased prices of “Roti” from Rs5 to Rs 6 and “Naan” from Rs 6 to Rs 7 without any permission from the city district government.
The “Tandoor” owners are charging increased prices of “Roti and Naan” for the few days but appropriate action could not be taken against them. Though City District Government (CDG) has claimed that it was conducting raids to check price of “roti” and various Naanbais who were found overcharging have also been imposed fines.
The authorities concerned further claimed that special instructions had been issued to the assistant commissioners to conduct raids and impose fines on those selling Roti at Rs6 and Naan at Rs 7. Assistant Commissioner Fahad Azeem told that they did not issue any notification regarding increase in price of “roti” and “Naanbais” could not increase the price on their own.
The Naanbais were also warned not to violate the orders of the administration, otherwise the cases would be registered against those found overcharging and they would be sent behind the bars as the rates of roti have not been increased. But, contrary to the tall claims of the district administration, no one is selling Roti at Rs5 and Naan at Rs6 as the “Naanbais” Welfare Association (NWA) increased the prices of “roti” and “naan” citing the reason of shortage of “atta” and increase in its price.
Some of “Naanbais” are even selling “roti” for Rs7 and “naan” for Rs8.
The customers are perturbed over the ever-increasing prices of “roti”.
When contacted, Rawalpindi “Naanbais” Association (RNA) General Secretary Sardar Nafees Ahmed said that they have increased prices of “roti” and “naan” because of increase in prices of “atta” and fuel charges as expensive firewood is being used in “tandoors” owing to zero gas pressure. He also admitted that some “Naanbais” are selling “roti” for Rs7 and “naan” for Rs8. It is pertinent to mention here that Wheat flour crisis has hit the city with the price of a 20kg bag jumping to Rs820 against the official rate of Rs670.
After the increase, the prices of Roti and other wheat products like bread and rusk have gone up despite the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR)’s claim that there was no shortage of wheat flour or an increase in the prices. Bread is available in bakeries for Rs55 against the previous price of Rs45.
“Wheat and fine wheat flour prices have gone up so we have to increase the prices of our products,” said Altaf, the owner of a bakery in Kiani Road. A few days back, the CDGR had increased the price of the 20kg wheat flour bag from Rs620 to Rs670 but the retailers refused to accept it and fixed the price at Rs820.
The residents are being seen shuttling between one bazaar and another in search of wheat flour at the official rate of Rs670 per 20kg bag. Atif, a shopkeeper at Peoples Colony Bazaar, said the whole salers and millers had not been providing them wheat flour for the last two days.
“Shopkeepers are not selling the commodity and turning away the buyers on the pretext of unavailability. However, if they agree to sell, they insist on charging Rs40 to Rs45 per kg,” said Mushtaq, a resident of Dhoke Syedian.
He criticised the provincial government for its failure to provide wheat flour to the public in a sufficient quantity. He also complained that the shopkeepers were hoarding the commodity to sell it at Rs800 to Rs820 per 20kg bag.
Another customer said he had also visited a Utility Store outlet where the 20kg bag was available at Rs720.
However, he added, the quality of the wheat flour available at the Utility Store was low. The administration claimed that there was no shortage of wheat flour in the city and the shopkeepers were following the prices fixed by the CDGR.
District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar said the district government was striving to ensure the availability of wheat flour at the official rate. However, he admitted that there were some problems due to the gap between supply and demand.