Punjab's cabinet committee for price control has ruled out the possibility of any increase in flour prices in the province especially in the wake of presence of three million tons of wheat in government stocks. It was claimed at a meeting of the committee which held here on Friday with Punjab Minister for Food and Chairman of the Cabinet Committee Bilal Yasin in the chair.
MPA Mian Rafi Rajwara, Mohsin Bhatti, Abdur Rauf Mughal, Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha and Secretaries of agriculture, industries, food, transport and information department and Director General Punjab Food Authority also attended the session. Secretary Food Punjab informed the meeting that at present 3,000,000 metric tons of wheat was present in government godowns so there was no chance of increase in wheat flour prices in the province. Likewise, he added, 900,000 metric tons of sugar was also present in the stocks but there was a need to take steps for stopping increase in its prices.
The committee ordered the district administration to take steps for selling the sugar at Rs 55 per kilograms. Secretary Industries Punjab informed the meeting that supply of tomatoes and onion from Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Balochistan had ensured drop in the prices of these vegetables in local market. He said that effective working by price control committees also helped keeping the prices stable in the market. The meeting directed the DCOs and Commissioners to ensure daily check and balances in the market. Punjab Food Minister Bilal Yasin speaking on this occasion stated that bringing the prices of daily use items was an important responsibility of the administration and government would not tolerate any leniency in this regard.