LAHORE: A ministerial committee meeting held at the civil secretariat on Monday reviewed Ramazan Relief Package and expressed concern over increase in the prices of chicken during the last three days.

The meeting chaired by industry and commerce minister Chaudhry Shafay Hussain ordered immediate steps to reduce the prices of chicken meat and directed the civil administration to closely monitor the supply of poultry in the market – especially in the last 10 days of Ramazan. The meeting also reviewed implementation of Ramazan Relief Package, availability of essential items, prices, monitoring process and the performance of the price control magistrates.

It was told that till Sunday, some 950,000 inspections were conducted and 6.4 million violations were detected in Punjab.

Meanwhile, it was informed that some 2,105 cases were registered, 6,136 people arrested and fines of more than Rs70.4m were imposed across the province.

The minister said the Ramazan package was successfully being delivered at the doorsteps of people and added that more than 4.9m families had been provided ration. He said people were getting quality essential items at subsidised rates in the holy month. Due to the improvement in the supply situation, he claimed the prices had come down significantly. He stressed that the Punjab Food Authority needed to be more active in the districts.

Agriculture minister Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said the commissioners and deputy commissioners should be given the task of bringing chicken prices down.

Information minister Azma Bokhari said it was important to ensure the supply of chicken at a reasonable rate to the people.

Food minister Bilal Yasin and administrative secretaries of the departments concerned attended the meeting, while divisional commissioners joined it through video-link.

CHIEF SECRETARY: Another meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman at the civil secretariat noted that some 4.8m ration bags had so far been delivered to the needy people at their doorsteps.

The meeting decided that certificates of appreciation would be awarded to the 10 best performing districts in connection with delivery of ration bags.

The secretaries of industries and agriculture in their detailed briefings claimed a crackdown on profiteers was underway across the province and the prices of potatoes, tomatoes and other vegetables were decreasing.

They said more than 1.5 million consumers had benefited from the agriculture fair price shops established in Ramazan bazaars.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2024