RAWALPINDI: With Ramazan just a few days away, the prices of milk, curd and sugar have increased in the market but the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) has turned a blind eye to the price hil(e.

Milk is being sold at Rs100 per litre against the official price of Rs70 per litre. Curd is being sold at Rs110 per kg against Rs80 per kg, and sugar is being sold at Rs74 per kg against the official price of Rs60 per kg.

People were seen queuing in front of utility stores prior to opening hours to benefit from the Ramazan package that began on Saturday.

Children and the elderly were among those in the long, slow moving queues in the hot weather.

`The increase in prices of essen-tial food items has forced people to queue to buy sugar at Rs47 per kg, because it has become difficult to manage the kitchen budget,` said Sirajuddin Ahmed while he queued to buy sugar in Marrir Hassan.

Mohammad Azhar, an Allahabad resident, said there were no checks and balances on prices. Mr Azhar, who said he works at a Ramazan bazaar where people queue to buy reasonably priced edibles, said the Punjab chief minister`s administration had failed in the province.

`The government should bring down the prices in the open market and end the large proHts of shopkeepers instead of establishing Ramazan bazaars. Setting up a Ramazan bazaar proves that the writ of the government in bazaars and markets could not be established, Mohammad Anwar, a Mohanpura resident, said.

He said the government should open more utility stores in each residential locality, rather than wasting money on setting up Ramazan markets. He added that it was the people that faced problems when shopkeep-ers increased prices.

`Is there any mechanism to implement the government`s official rates,` asked Mehmood Malik, a Dhoke Khabba resident. `The politicians and bureaucrats never go to bazaars to buy food, so they wouldn`t understand the plight of the average citizen.

District Coordination Officer Talat Mehmood Gondal was not available to comment on the matter.

However, a senior CDGR official said the civic authority has devised a plan to inspect markets in Ramazan.

The official said a 10kg bag of flour will be provided for Rs290, while sugar will be provided for Rs10 less than in the open market.

He admitted that sellers in the open market have increased prices before Ramazan.

He said vegetable oil will be available for Rs10 less than the market price in the Ramazan Sasta Bazaars.

Similarly, essential daily use items will be available at fair price shops set up by the agriculture department in the bazaars, for Rs10 less than the market price.