Price-hike: Profiteers make mockery of price control body

‘Price regulating committee’ in Gilgit-Baltistan fails to control prices of commodities being sold at inflated rates

GILGIT: The government ‘price regulating committee’ in Gilgit-Baltistan has failed to control prices of various commodities being sold at inflated rates in the markets.

The shopkeepers sell various items including vegetables, fruits and meat at high prices as they have no fear of any checking from the government.

“The cheapest fruit available in the market are apples which cost Rs60 per kg,” said Mushtaq Mohammad, a retailer in Gilgit. He said retailers claim prices are higher than the previous year because the petroleum product price hike affected all and sundry.

Mujtaba Rana, a resident of Gilgit said that he was shocked to note that prices of daily use items increase on a daily basis. He said spinach cost him Rs40 a day before but the same vegetable was selling for Rs60 per kg the very next day.

Similarly, meat was sold at Rs200 per kg despite various warnings from the government to follow the fixed rate of Rs180 per kg.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2011.