Utility Stores wear deserted look as prices soar

RAWALPINDI:

The absence of a subsidy package for utility stores this Ramazan has left these outlets across the city completely deserted.

Hundreds of people who visit daily in hopes of finding affordable essentials return disappointed.

Unlike previous years, no subsidies have been provided on sugar, flour, ghee, oil, gram flour, or pulses at utility stores this Ramadan, nor has additional stock been supplied.

This has led to frequent altercations between customers and store workers, who themselves have expressed frustration over the situation.

Speaking at the Committee Chowk Sunday Bazaar Utility Store, workers lamented that on the second day of Ramazan, they had been sitting idle since morning with no subsidised items in stock.

They described the so-called "Ramazan package" as nothing but empty promises, pointing to the empty shelves where sugar, ghee, oil, flour, and pulses should have been.

Workers recalled that for the past 50 years, they had sold discounted essentials every Ramadan, but this year, nothing was available at reduced prices.

Instead of receiving blessings from fasting citizens and the poor, they said they were now forced to endure their curses.

The long queues traditionally seen at utility stores during Ramadan are now a distant memory.

Meanwhile, market vendors, rather than embracing the spirit of Ramadan by offering fair prices, have significantly hiked the rates of all essential food items used for Sehri and Iftar.

On the second day of Ramazan, sugar is being sold at Rs170 per kilogram, while bananas are priced at Rs300 per dozen.

Oranges cost between Rs550 and Rs600 per dozen, apples are Rs450 per kilogram, strawberries are Rs600 per kilogram, guavas are Rs250 per kilogram, pomegranates are Rs400 per kilogram, and grapes range from Rs350 to Rs500 per kilogram.

Melons are being sold at Rs250 per kilogram.

The price of live chicken has reached Rs550 per kilogram, while chicken meat is being sold at Rs780 per kilogram.

A dozen eggs now cost Rs287. Milk is priced at Rs220 per litre, yoghurt at Rs240 per kilogram, butter at Rs1,200 per kilogram, and desi ghee at an astonishing Rs3,000 per kilogram.

The cost of mutton has surged to Rs2,400 per kilogram, while beef is being sold at Rs1,400 per kilogram.

The price of white chickpeas has reached 410 rupees per kilogram, gram dal is Rs400 per kilogram, mash dal is Rs550 per kilogram, red beans are Rs420 per kilogram, and gram flour is being sold between Rs400 and Rs450 per kilogram.

Ghee is being sold at Rs500 rupees per kilogram, and cooking oil has reached 530 per litre.

Potatoes are being sold at Rs90 per kilogram, while onions cost 100 per kilogram.

A bunch of coriander or mint is priced at Rs30. Garlic has reached Rs800 per kilogram, ginger is being sold at Rs600 per kilogram, and peas cost Rs100 per kilogram.

Chinese lemons are priced at Rs200 per kilogram, while radishes are available at Rs50 per kilogram.

Sources said with no price regulation in place, further increases in the coming days appear inevitable.