Solid steps being taken to reduce prices of daily use items: DC

Rawalpindi: Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rawalpindi, Hassan Waqar Cheema has said that the administration was taking solid steps to reduce the prices of daily use items.

He informed that 50 magistrates were monitoring the prices of food items in Rawalpindi district. Over 175 shopkeepers involved in profiteering were arrested during March, he informed.

The DC said that 21 cases were registered and 19 shops were sealed on the sale of substandard items. Fines amounting to over Rs4.2 million were also imposed on the retailers found involved in profiteering, he said adding, in nearly 36,000 inspections conducted and nearly 1,665 violations were checked.

Hassan Waqar Cheema informed that the price of onion in Rawalpindi is Rs100 less than Islamabad.

There is a big wholesale market in Islamabad which is controlled by the Islamabad administration, he said and informed that a market had recently been established in Rawat where the prices of vegetables and fruits were being monitored to provide relief to the citizens. Agriculture Fair Price Shop and wholesale market had also been established on the special instructions of the Punjab Government to facilitate the people, the DC added. Hassan Waqar Cheema informed that the citizens were buying the food items at wholesale rates in Ramazan Sasta Bazaar set up outside Nawaz Sharif Park on Murree Road.