Daily Times

LAHORE: A meeting of the Cabinet Committee, assigned with the task of overseeing and monitoring of supply and price situation in Ramazan bazaars as well as in the open market, was held at Civil Secretariat on Saturday.

Punjab Industries Minister Ch Muhammad Shafiq, Additional Chief Secretary Shamail Ahmad Khawaja, CMIT Chairman Irfan Ali, Food Secretary Dr Pervaiz Ahmad Khan and Industries Secretary Khalid Sher Dil participated in the meeting besides other senior officers of the relevant provincial departments.

It was noted with concern in the meeting that the price of tomato was highly variable in various districts of Punjab, particularly the tomato price in Khanewal and Vehari, was abnormally high as compared to the adjoining districts.

The meeting decided to enhance the supply of tomato for Khanewal and Vehari where the price of tomato exceeded to Rs 50 per kilogramme as compared to that of in Attock, which was Rs 22 per kilogramme. The additional chief secretary directed the district administration of Khanewal to improve a control of price hike as far as tomato is concerned.

He expressed satisfaction over the fact that the price of other commodities in all 318 Ramadan bazaars in the province as well as in the open market remained stable due to Rs 5 billion subsidy package provided by the government for the holy month of Ramazan. This package has provided a lot of relief to the people especially to the fasting common lot, he added.

He also appreciated the efforts of the government machinery in administering the Ramadan bazaars and also in effectively controlling the market forces. The government would ensure that edibles including flour, sugar, fruits, vegetables and other commodities would be abundantly available in the Ramadan bazaars as well as in the open market on subsidised price, he added.