Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday asked the volunteers of the Prime Minister’s Tiger Force to regularly check the prices of eatables and post on their portal for discussion on upcoming Saturday.
On Twitter, the prime minister said that he would be meeting the volunteers on coming Saturday at Convention Centre. “From now till then I want our Tiger Force to regularly check prices of daal, atta, sugar, ghee in their localities & post on Tiger Force portal,” he said, while sharing the portal link accessible at http://tigerforce.gov.pk. He said he would be discussing with them the matter of eatables’ prices on Saturday (Oct 17).
A day earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that the government would use all of the resources at the state’s disposal to bring down food prices by Monday. On Twitter, the prime minister said the government was already examining causes of the price hikes. “We are already examining causes of the price hikes: whether there is a genuine supply shortage or simply hoarding by mafias; smuggling, if any; or a price rise due to international prices such as for palm oil, lentils etc,” he had remarked.
The prime minister had said that from next week, the government would have its strategy in place and action would begin, using all state organisations and resources, to bring down food prices.
Prime Minister Imran Khan while taking strict notice of the excessive pricing of consumable items at motorway rest areas, had directed the ministry and authorities concerned to introduce regular monitoring and take stringent action against the overcharging shopkeepers. In a letter addressed to the communications ministry, National Highway Authority and Inspector General Motorway Police, the Prime Minister’s Office had conveyed Prime Minister Imran Khan’s displeasure over the excessive prices at motorway rest areas reported through numerous complaints registered at Pakistan Citizen Portal. The letter pointed out that according to the complainants, the prices of the food items like tea/coffee, juices, mineral water, cold drinks, biscuit, chips and others were almost double or triple than the prevailing market prices.
The PM Office had also observed the absence of any regular mechanism for price checks and directed for surprise inspections at different timings of the day and night on regular basis at intervals. The authorities concerned had been asked to depute zone-wise dedicated NHA teams for regular check on the prices. The support from the district administration concerned should also be requisitioned, if required. It had also directed for display of banners and stands on visible places of the rest areas to encourage people to lodge complaints on the portal.
