A day after Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered to bring down prices of naan and roti to their previous rates throughout the country, Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday took an important decision to provide relief to the common people by approving reversion of gas tariff for non commercial Tandoors to the pre-June 30 level. The decision was taken despite the fact that price of wheat contributes fifty five to sixty percent to the price of roti had remained unchanged whilst the gas bills that contribute twenty to twenty five percent to the price of roti, had also not been issued yet under the new tariff having come into effect from 1st of July.
The very decision of the ECC surely reflects that the Government is not oblivious to the problems of the people but fully understands and shares their concerns especially caused by increase in prices of essential food items. By taking steps towards bringing down the prices of bread, Prime Minister Imran Khan has proved true to his words that in Naya Pakistan the common man, especially the poor, will be fully taken care of. In order to ensure that the benefit of revision in gas tariff is made applicable to the stand alone Tandoors or roadside restaurants catering to the poor, a decision has also been taken to carry out a detailed survey of the Tandoors across the country. Rs.1.51 billion will be provided to subsidize these gas connections. As often has been seen in our country that the prices of essential items that go up once never comes down due to high handedness of profiteers , heavy responsibility now rests with the provincial governments and other relevant authorities to ensure the roti is sold at old rates. In case if any bread seller is found involved in overcharging or reducing the size of the roti, strict action should be taken in the form of shutting it down. A stringent mechanism also needs to be evolved at the federal and provincial levels to rein in the prices of essential commodities and to bring to task the profiteers and hoarders.
