CDGL to set up 21 bazaars, 1,181 shops

LAHORE: The City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) will set up 21 Ramazan Bazaars and 1,181 fair price shops to ensure provision of daily-use items at subsidised rates from August 9, a notification issued by the district coordinator officer, Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta, said.

Bhutta told The Express Tribune that the CDGL had made all possible preparations for Ramazan. He said that they will make sure that quality food items are provided to people at reasonable prices. He expressed satisfaction at his negotiations with traders’ representatives, “They have assured us of full cooperation from their side.”

The DCO has also appointed 70 price control magistrates to monitor the sale of goods at prices fixed by the government.

These price control  magistrates are:

Dr Noor Awan, Chaudary Irshad Ahmed, Wasima Omar, Saliha Saeed, Mujahid Iqbal Qureshi, Abdul Hameed, Allah Yar, Ali Imtiaz, Afraz Ahmed, Nasrullah Chaudary, Nisar Ahsan, Ch Mumtaz Ahmed, Iqbal Mazhar, Hafiz Mohammad Ahmed, Syed Munir Ahmed Shah, Faisal Atta, Amer Ahmed Khan, Aftab Ahmed Khan, Miraj Butt, Dr Mohammad Imran, Masroor Tayyab, Suleman Khan, Dr Shakeel Ahmed, Ahmed Kamal, Malik Afzal, Javed Rasheed Chohan, Faisal Shahzad, Imtiaz Awan, Faiza Shaukat, Rana Ashraf, Rai Mansha, Gulshan Noreen, Mohammad Bakhsh, Shahid Iqbal, Harris Jalil, Malik Tariq, Afzal Rehan, Syed Ali Abbas Bokhari, Afzal khan, Malik Liaquat Ali, Shaukat Ali Mazhar, Rai Shahnawaz, Rai Imtiaz, Khaliq Rasheed, Mian Asim and Qamarul Islam.

These magistrates are empowered to pay surprise visits to the Ramazan Bazaars and fair price shops and fine the shopkeepers found tampering with weights or selling overpriced items.

Prices

The DCO has fixed the wholesale and retail prices of: Gram flour, super rice (new), basmati rice (386), daal chana, daal masoor, daal mash (unwashed) and daal moong (washed), low fat milk, high fat milk, yogurt, pakoras and samosas.

The list was finalised in a meeting held in connection with the preparation for Ramazan on July 16.  Besides, the DCO, the meeting was attended by the district officer (industry), the Market Committee secretary, the deputy district officer (Revenue), the tehsil municipal officers (TMOs), the price control magistrates and the representatives of traders wings. The traders assured the district administration that they will self-regulate and will act against the hoarders and profiteers within their ranks.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2010.