Utility stores selling poor quality stuff

ZAIT (CHITRAL), Aug 9: Utility stores were established to provide daily-use commodities to the public at controlled rates. Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani said at the inauguration of Ramazan Package at a Utility Store on July 20 that the middle class would benefit from the subsidy given at Utility Stores across the country. He further said the prices of over 600 essential commodities had been slashed with reduction of Rs5 to Rs22. But the situation is different here in Chitral. Sugar has long disappeared from the market with the coming of Ramazan. One of the local customers here in Reshun said rice selling at lower price and Lubya (pulse) were sometimes substandard, adding that ghee 1kg pack sometimes also came in low quality. He further said substandard ghee was also being sold without any limitations. A person can buy 5 to 10 packs at a time which is enough to show its quality. One of the customers even said that candle pieces had been mixed up with ghee, therefore, higher officials stopped selling these packs in one of the utility stores and distributing oil packs to the general public, he added. Another customer said flour which is the basic commodity is not available here but customers in other utility stores enjoy the benefit. The consumers here have appealed to the authorities concerned not to play with the health of the nation and improve the situation.–Munir Hussyn Fatimi]]>