The Grocery Merchants Association has announced plans for a complete strike in Rawalpindi and Punjab in response to the enforced implementation of official grocery prices.
The association has criticized the absence of a transparent pricing mechanism for essential items such as pulses, white chickpeas, sugar, flour, and ghee.
Merchants have been resisting an official mandate that requires them to sell food items at retail prices of Rs50 lower than the wholesale rates. They are demanding a meeting with the Punjab chief minister to address their concerns about these pricing policies.
The President of the Central Grocery Merchant Association, Saleem Pervez Butt, expressed frustration over the government’s failure to establish a proper pricing mechanism, despite previous agreements made during meetings with officials including the food minister and food secretary. He noted that the government has resorted to imposing heavy fines instead of implementing these agreements.
Butt provided an example of the pricing issues, stating that while the wholesale price for chickpeas is Rs410 per kg, the Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner has mandated a selling price of Rs330 per kg. He also highlighted that the profit margin for sugar is set at a mere Rs3 per kg, while their costs exceed Rs10.
He criticized district commissioners for not convening Price Control Committee meetings for the past three months, leading to arbitrary pricing decisions without consultation. Butt urged district commissioners to identify wholesale dealers selling essential items at lower prices to enable retailers to comply with the official rates.
The association claimed that district administrations are imposing fines of Rs50,000 on small grocers, making it impossible for them to sell items at lower prices when they have purchased them at higher rates.
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