SIALKOT-Fasting people decry the soaring prices of daily-use items at Sasta Ramazan Bazaars and in open markets.
Talking to The Nation, they said that these bazaars were losing their attraction for people. They lamented that the officials of district administration visited these bazaars for photo sessions only.
In Sialkot, a visitor named Zahida Parveen, 53, told The Nation that she was unable to buy lemon from Sasta Ramazan Bazaar at Tehsil Bazaar as it was being sold at Rs500 per kg.
Another woman named Allah Rakhi, 62, said that vendors at Sasta Ramazan Bazaars near Jinnah Stadium Sialkot and Tehsil Bazaar Sialkot were involved in dishonest measuring of the weight of commodities.
In Daska, Iqbal said that the quality of flour and sugar at Sasta Ramazan Bazaar Daska was substandard. The harsh weather and very high prices of the fruits, vegetables and other daily use items were keeping the people from Sasta Ramazan Bazaars. The perturbed people said these bazaars had become an official “joke” after loosing their credibility as there was no visible difference in the prices of fruits, vegetables and other food items available at these bazaars and in local markets.
In Sialkot district, the high prices of daily use items were keeping the people from Ramazan Bazars as there was no rush of people there due to unbearable prices. Locals told The Nation that the daily use commodities had gone beyond the reach of the common man due to price hike at Sasta Ramazan Bazaars in Sialkot district. They said that there was no for people at these bazaars.
The district administration has established as many as seven Sasta Ramazan Bazaars in all four tehsils of Sialkot district namely Sialkot, Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur. People protested against the hike in the prices of daily use commodities and their poor quality at these bazaars.
They said that these bazaars had failed to provide any financial relief to the common man. “Therefore, people were reluctant to go these bazaars and buy something.”
Meanwhile, Provincial Minister for Special Education Ch Ikhlaq and Sialkot Deputy Commissioner Bilal Haider visited Sasta Ramazan Bazaars in Sialkot, Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur. They directed the officials to ensure the provision of maximum relief to locals.
244,000 ILLEGALLY
STOCKED WHEAT BAGS SEIZED
Special teams of the district administration claimed to have seized as many as 244,000 bags of illegally stocked wheat during a raid on a private warehouse owned by local dealers, middlemen and hoarders.
According to District Food Controller (DFC) Nasar Ullah Khan Nadeem, teams of the Food Department carried out raids on as many as 211 different places in Sialkot, Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur tehsils.
The DFC revealed that the Food Department has purchased 34,500 metric tonnes of wheat so far at all ten official wheat procurement centres established across Sialkot district. He said that the Punjab government has fixed official wheat procurement target for Sialkot district at 93,877 metric tonnes.