The Rawalpindi district administration issued on Wednesday a notification of new prices for food items, pulses, rice, meat, milk, and yoghurt. However, the Grocery Merchants Association, Naanbai Union, Gowala Union and Mutton Beef Retailers Association refused the new prices, considering them as "drawing room rates", and decided not to sell their products at the updated official rates.
Per the announcement made by the deputy commissioner, milk is available for purchase at the rate of Rs170 per kg, yoghurt at Rs200 per kg, mutton meat at Rs1,600 per kg, and beef meat at Rs800 per kg. The price of white chickpeas is set at Rs325 per kg, black gram Rs240 per kg, gram flour Rs245 per kg, split chickpea lentils Rs245 per kg, yellow split gram Rs290 per kg, red lentil thick Rs310 per kg, lentil mash Rs490 per kg, basmati rice Rs300 per kg, and the price of broken rice is set at Rs155 per kg. The price of red flour roti has been fixed at Rs16 and white flour roti has been fixed at Rs20. The prices of spices, flour, and sugar have been left open to decide.
Contrary to the official rates, shopkeepers in the open market are selling fresh milk at Rs200 per kg, yoghurt at Rs220 per kg, mutton meat at Rs2,300 per kg, beef meat at Rs1,200 per kg, white chickpeas Rs400 per kg, black gram Rs290 per kg, gram flour Rs300 per kg, split chickpea lentils Rs310 per kg, red lentil thick Rs350 per kg, lentil mash Rs530 per kg, Basmati rice Rs400 per kg, and broken rice at Rs200 per kg.
Nanbais are charging for red flour roti at both official and unofficial rates of Rs16 and Rs20 in the open market. They have reduced the weight of the ball of dough to 90 grams for Rs16 price. Khamiri roti is still being sold at Rs20 to 25 and naan at Rs30.
Chaudhry Khurram Gujjar, the secretary of the Gowala Union, says the milk price was Rs170 per kg in 2021. But now the price of buffalo has skyrocketed to around Rs650,000 and fodder has also increased by 1000%, making it unfeasible to sell milk at this price. Therefore, the milk price will remain at Rs200 per kg and will not be reduced under any circumstances, he makes it clear.
Arshad Qureshi, the vice president of the Mutton Beef Retailers Union, emphasised the importance of conducting market visits to determine the fixed price of meat. In 2021, mutton was priced at Rs1,600 per kg, however, due to a significant increase in the prices of all animals, both small and large, it is unlikely that the price of meat will decrease.
Ayaz Khan and Roshan Deen, local shopkeepers of the Grocery Merchant Association, are of the view that all pulses are imported from foreign countries, resulting in higher wholesale prices compared to the new official rates. They have made it clear that they will not purchase costly pulses and sell them at lower prices. “We ask the DC to tell us about the wholesale shop from where we could get cheap pulses and rice at the official rate. Until then, the old high prices will persist,” the traders maintained.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2024.
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