Food Price Monitoring: A key issue for the masses

In the recent past, the district level governments in various cities have assumed the role of monitoring prices of a variety of essential food items through their established monitoring committees. In order for these committees to work effectively, the “system of district magistracy” was brought into practice. However, recent reports of Commissioner Lahore Division provided that these committees have adapted to the habit of providing unreliable information about prices offered for a number of food items at various selling points.

With the month of Ramadan gone by, a number of underprivileged people have expressed dissatisfaction over prices charged by ‘Sasta’ bazaars for a range of essential food items during the sacred month for which they were promised to be charged fixed affordable rates. To add to their misery, food shortages had forced the poor to wait in long queues in a state of fast to obtain food items that were overly charged. Moreover according to sources, a number of roadside sellers were also engaged in selling low quality fruits for higher prices. One thus has to blame monitoring committees for demonstrating height of incompetence that rendered the poor in a state of dire hunger.

This then necessitates that serious measures are taken to prevent repetition of the past which becomes necessary, as almost one-fourth of the country’s population could not even satisfy their daily nutritional requirements. In this regards, district magistrates have a significant role to play to ensure that committees assigned to various divisions regularly monitor food prices. Strict action should also be taken against hoarders of sugar and wheat along with sellers selling food items at a higher price than those fixed by the government. Moreover, cash incentives should be offered to committee workers providing solid evidence of defaulters. Furthermore, meetings should be held on regular basis whereby committees could devise strategies of deriving actual prices from sellers.
 
It is imperative to point out that whenever government intervenes into market, it automatically upsets the ‘price adjustment mechanism’ possible under free-market operation. Thus sellers faced with shortage of supplies would always find it unprofitable to sell below a particular market price. Hence, authorities should seek to provide means through which sufficient food supplies are available for which subsidies need to be offered on production of essential food items to raise their supply making them available at cheaper rates for stores to purchase. Sellers purchasing these products would hence be more willing to sell at the established fixed price.