Sasta bazaars fail to deliver relief to citizens
July 29,2013.
Sasta bazaars fail to deliver relief to citizens
RAWALPINDI: Ramazan Sasta bazaars have failed to provide relief to the citizens, as the prices of daily-use items have no much difference compared to the open market rates.
The Rawal Town administration has set up six Ramazan Sasta bazaars at Liaquat Bagh, Murree Road, Haideri Chowk, Sadiqabad, Committee Chowk and Awan Market Khiaban-e-Sir Syed.
Total 19 Ramazan Sasta bazaars are established in Rawalpindi out of which eight bazaars are in Rawalpindi city and Cantonment.
According to citizens, most of the food items are available in Ramazan Sasta bazaars but with meagre price differences. The bazaars at various points of the town, including Committee Chowk and model bazaar at Liaquat Bagh, have failed to deliver any relief to the masses and could not attract the citizens. Most of the people were also complaining of sub-standard food items.
On the other hand, Utility Stores Corporation (USC) subsidise shops have insufficient stock of some items.
Likewise, during a visit to different Utility Stores in the city, it was observed that most of the outlets were facing shortage of items such as sugar and gram flour. Prices of other commodities were also not much different from prices in the open market. Many people visited the bazaars to buy sugar and flour on subsidised rates but returned disappointed.
The citizens alleged that some managers of the USC outlets were selling subsidised sugar to retailers in the open market. According to the DCO Rawalpindi, district government was trying to control the prices of the commodities at Ramazan Sasta baazars to extend maximum relief to the masses in this holy month. “Meat, poultry and flour are available on subsidised rates in different Sasta Baazars,” he added.
He said special teams were constituted to check the quality and rates of food and they were conducting raids on a daily basis.
The DCO said Ramazan Sasta bazaars were set up to provide relief to citizens on special directives of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Solid steps are being taken by the Rawalpindi district administration for the provision of quality products to the consumers, he added.