Govt to beat price hike with Sahulat Bazaars

The government moves to provide relief to the masses from dearness and price hike and has decided to set up Sahulat Bazaars in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, offering items of daily use, particularly food items at reduced rates.

A meeting was held under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister on Monday, regarding the prices of essential commodities. According to sources, the government has decided to set up 350 Sahulat Bazaars across Punjab within a month.

The meeting reviewed the availability and prices of wheat and sugar, the sources said. It has been decided that at these markets, a 20-kilogramme bag of flour will be sold at Rs845, 10kg flour bag at Rs410 while Sugar will be sold at Rs85 per kg.

The meeting was informed about the crackdown against hoarders in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was informed in the meeting that 475 tonnes of sugar and 30,000 kgs of ghee, hoarded in Vihari were seized and one person had been arrested.

Similarly, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government carried out 27,000 raids on various shops in one week, sealed 759 shops and punished 103 shopkeepers. The provincial government has issued warnings to more than 6,000 shopkeepers.

As per the government decision, the sources said that 195 Sahulat Bazaars would be set up in Punjab this week, including 31 in Lahore. Around 24 Sahulat Bazaars will be set up in Bahawalpur Division, according to local officials.