LAHORE - The Price Control Committee and 115 price control magistrates have failed to maintain quality and prices of fruits and vegetables at Ramazan bazaars operating in the city.
Sunday Ramazan bazaars offered low quality fruits to the masses, which decried unavailability of quality fruits, as claimed by the Punjab government.
Sindhri mango, which has just arrived in the open market and is available in good quality, was not available in Ramazan bazaars.
The Sindhri mango (a type of mango from Sind) was sold at Rs140 per kg but quality of the mango was not up to the mark at Township Model Ramazan Bazaar and Model Town Ramazan Bazaar. The price of China Apple rose to Rs310 per kg from Rs290 per kg. Banana sold at Rs100 to 150 per dozen in Ramazan Bazaars and from Rs150 to Rs220 per dozen in open markets. On the other hand, apricot was sold at Rs140 both in open markets and in Ramazan markets set up by the government.
The quality of the apricot was not up to the mark in Township Model Ramazan Bazaar and Gulshan-e-Ravi Ramazan Bazaar.
Price control magistrates inspected 18,570 places where 2,095 violations were found. They ticketed 419 people, registered 835 FIRs, arrested 1178 people, and imprisoned 498 people. They also visited 1833 markets.
The deputy commissioner has directed PCMs to continue crackdown on violators involved in short weighing, overcharging and hoarding.
On the other hand, 309 subsidized Ramazan bazaars established by the Punjab government across the province and providing 28 essential commodities on subsidized rates are being monitored by PITB’s System Network Administrators (SNAs).