Pindi admin gives in to traders’ pressure

Withdraws fines imposed on retailers

RAWALPINDI:

Negotiations between traders and the Rawalpindi district administration have yielded results, with Deputy Commissioner Hasan Waqar Cheema implementing an immediate ban on assistant commissioners and 60 price control magistrates from issuing challans to shopkeepers.

The deputy commissioner said assistant commissioners and price magistrates will personally assess market prices and impose challan fines instead of summoning traders to their offices.

Moreover, shopkeepers were ordered to sell food items at rates determined by the district administration. Vendors of pulses, rice, milk, meat and other groceries must adhere to specified prices, the deputy commissioner. However, traders demanded that separate rates should be set for higher-quality goods.

The Grocery Merchants Association has approved the new rates, while the Mutton Beef Union, Naan Bhai Association, and Gowala Union have rejected them, vowing to increase prices of milk, meat, and bread.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Hasan Waqar Cheema has set prices for various items in Rawalpindi district. As per the rates, the price of a kilo gram of white gram has been set at Rs327, black gram at Rs232, besan (chickpea flour) at Rs232.

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The announcement has sparked discontent, with associations expressing concerns over the impact on their businesses. Shafiq Qureshi, president of the Nanbai Association, criticised the fixed rates for roti, emphasising the rising costs of flour and gas. Beef Mutton Union Secretary Nasir Qureshi demanded a 50% increase in open market prices for mutton and beef.

Vice President of Gawala Union Chaudhary Khawar argued that selling milk and yoghurt at official prices is unsustainable given the escalating costs of buffaloes, fodder, and straw. He announced plans to increase milk and yoghurt prices to Rs210 and Rs230 per kg, respectively.

Saleem Pervez Butt, central president of the Grocery Merchant Association, mentioned that the deputy commissioner has permitted the sale of low-quality items, with separate pricing for low and high-quality pulses based on their quality. The associations have conveyed their dissatisfaction, warning of potential disruptions, and closures if fines are imposed.

Previously, poultry dealers and retailers across the Rawalpindi district threatened a strike, saying their shops would stay closed as they demanded increasing their markup to Rs30 from Rs20. They said that inflation had a blanket increase on costs which was eating into their profit.

Leaders of a local collective of poultry dealers told The Express Tribune that for the last 30 years, retailers were allowed to sell chicken at a profit of Rs20 above the wholesale price.

But now they were being denied their fair share.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2024.