Punjab develops new mechanism to fix food prices: SACM
LAHORE: Punjab has developed a new mechanism for determining the prices of vegetables, fruits, greens, meat and milk, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Food Safety Salma Butt said on Tuesday. She was speaking at the second important meeting of the Price Control Council, jointly chaired by Punjab Agriculture Minister Ashiq Hussain Kirmani and Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for…
LAHORE: Punjab has introduced a novel system to determine the prices of vegetables, fruits, greens, meat, and milk, according to Salma Butt, the Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Food Safety. The announcement was made at the second meeting of the Price Control Council, co-chaired by Ashiq Hussain Kirmani, the Punjab Agriculture Minister, and Salma Butt herself.
The event was attended by PAMRA Chairman Malik Ahmad Saeed Khan, MPA Farzana Abbas, DG Enforcement (Price) Imran Qureshi, DG PAMRA Zeeshan Nasrullah Ranjha, DG Livestock Dr Sajjad, and other senior officials.
Butt emphasized that providing food items to the public at affordable rates is the top priority for the Chief Minister. She elaborated on the stringent measures taken to prevent fraudulent inspection entries and ensure the availability of food items at officially fixed prices, while also enhancing the performance of price control magistrates.
In a significant update, the "Qeemat App" has been modified to require live location tracking (geo-tagging) and a magistrate's selfie while inspecting shops and grocery stores. Additionally, price control magistrates are now barred from conducting inspections between 10 pm and 5 am. The meeting delved into the performance of 1,635 price control magistrates across Punjab, during which millions of inspections were carried out from 2023 to August 2026.
Fines totaling tens of millions of rupees were levied for overcharging and the failure to display official rate lists. Thousands of arrests were made, and several shops were sealed, according to the discussion.
Butt highlighted that the focus remains on strict inspections of naan, roti, and chicken prices, as well as cases of overcharging, with swift action taken against violations. A proposal to restructure the appeal committee is being considered under amendments to the securities and price control law, with a 15-day window set for filing appeals against essential commodity prices.
Recent data shows a record decline in tomato and potato prices compared to the past. Prices of sugar, flour, cooking oil, poultry, and pulses have remained stable over the past six months. Onion prices have seen a slight increase due to the off-season in Punjab, with 64% of the supply still coming from Balochistan.
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