'Utility stores help avert sugar crisis'

The availability of the sugar at subsidised rates averted possible sugar crisis resulting in bringing stability in the price of the commodity at the level of retail market in the country, said Utility Stores Corporation (USC) Regional Manager Jehanzeb Khan on Tuesday.
"The large scale availability of the commodity by the state-run stores have helped brought down prices of sugar by Rs 5 to Rs 7 in the retail market," he added while talking to a group of journalists in his office inside Hayatabad Industrial Estates. The prices of sugar have shot up to Rs 45.00 per kg in the retail market. However, now it had brought down to Rs 38.00 per kg in the market.
He said that on the special directives of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz the supply of the sugar has been doubled to the Utility Stores, while the supply of the commodity to mobile points has also been doubled, adding the USC was also planning to open more selling points in the province.
Jehanzeb Khan said that Peshawar has 23 Utility Stores and 42 selling points, adding that the later have been increased to 82 for the maximum supply of sugar to the consumers.
He said that besides sugar the Utility Stores are also selling flour, ghee and other edibles at subsidised prices. About the recent sugar crisis, Khan said that with the few stores they are providing sugar to majority of the people of the city. He said that in the prevailing crisis the consumers have rushed to the stores and we remained with no option but to cut the size of demand and provide one packet with two kilograms sugar to consumers.
Dispelling the impression of the conditionality of purchasing other items on consumers along with the sugar, he said there is no compulsion in this connection. However, he said in some instances they adopted such kind of strategy to discourage shopkeepers taking benefits of the situation. The quality of the commodities available at Utility Stores is better than other shops and the selling of substandard products is merely the propaganda launched by the vested interest.