A spokesman of the Ministry of Industries and Production while clarifying the government's decision for making CNIC mandatory for purchase of sugar at Utility Stores has said that for the last many years the Utility Stores Corporation has been procuring Sugar from TCP either from the imported stock or from the stocks procured by TCP from the Sugar Mills.
The sale price of sugar at USC outlets has always been fixed by the Government. The difference between USC cost and sale price at USC outlets is picked up by the government in the form of subsidy. In January' 2009 the sale price of sugar at USC was fixed at Rs 38 per kg.
The ECC of the cabinet in its meeting held on January 12, 2010 revised the USC sale price from Rs 38/kg to Rs 45/kg. At present the Corporation is selling sugar to consumers at the revised price. The price of sugar in the open market is continuously increasing due to higher price of sugarcane and the higher international prices.
There is a huge price difference between USC outlets and the open market which is causing a lot of operational problems for the Corporation. Sale of Sugar at substantial subsidised rate is essentially meant for household consumers. The Corporation has taken numerous measures to ensure that the sugar reaches the targeted population.
However, because of the yawning difference between the market and Utility Stores price, non deserving and ineligible also queue up along with other elements to sell the sugar procured from USC outlets at higher rates in the open market.
Moreover sweets and bakeries shops management also used to queue up many teenagers outside Utility Stores to buy maximum sugar and thus the sugar dispatched to stores is sold out as soon as it reaches the stores as more people are standing outside in the queues than the number of packets available.
Therefore the government has made it mandatory to produce National Identity Cards to get a pack of 2kg of sugar from the USC outlet to ensure an effective monitoring and vigilance system so that it is sold out to deserving/ domestic customers.-PR