Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has instructed the chief secretary to oversee the province-wide crackdown on price gouging and hoarding.
Presiding over a meeting in Lahore on Sunday, she also ordered the prominent display of official rate lists and emphasized the need for strict monitoring of the supply and demand of essential food items.
She instructed the Punjab Chief Secretary to personally oversee the anti-profiteering and anti-hoarding campaign, present a detailed daily report on pricing, and ensure the affordability and quality of essential food items under all circumstances.
She stressed that strict measures would be implemented to regulate the prices and availability of fruits and vegetables during Ramadan. She warned that any unjustified price increases would result in legal action. To control inflation and provide relief to the public, the Punjab government has introduced a series of measures aimed at stabilizing the prices of essential commodities throughout the holy month.
She emphasized that Ramadan is a month of blessings and urged the business community to be considerate of the underprivileged. "Across the world, prices of essential items are reduced during Ramadan. We should also voluntarily lower prices," she stated. The Chief Minister further instructed that high-quality essential commodities be made available at lower prices in all relief markets across the province. She also mentioned that she is personally monitoring the prices of essential goods multiple times a day through the dashboard. Maryam Nawaz asserted that no negligence will be tolerated in the campaign against inflation during the holy month.
