By Sajid Irfan

ISLAMABAD, July 15 (INP-WealthPK): To ease the pressure of inflation on the common man, the government has announced to continue targeted subsidy of Rs70 billion on five basic food items at utility stores for the ongoing financial year. The five essential goods are flour, sugar, edible oil, pulses and rice.

A spokesperson for Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) told WealthPK that the government has taken a commendable initiative to continue subsidies on five food items which are used in every home. The total operational cost of over Rs150 million will be incurred on distribution of subsidy under the Prime Minister’s Sasta Atta (subsidised flour) initiative on 1,200 additional sale points in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for the month of June and August 2022, while Rs1.806 billion would be spent on distribution of subsidised items on the same points for fiscal year 2022-23.

The spokesperson stated that provision of subsidy on five basic items will be extended up to June 2023. This subsidy is also for the rest of provinces, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan. He said Rs174.08 million had been allocated for one-time cost of 190 new utility stores, and annual operating cost on 34 mobile stores in Balochistan province.

Abdul Haseeb, a utility store operator in Rawalpindi, told WealthPK that the initiative of continuing the subsidy on food items is welcome, but the government should also focus on relief to consumers on other items, e.g., utility bills, petrol, diesel, dairy products.

Abdul Haseeb said that besides 1,380 franchises, the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) was directly running 3,822 stores across the country. Almost 300 new utility stores would be opened in Balochistan, Azad Kashmir, Sindh and Punjab by the end of July 2022.

“113 million people benefitted from this targeted subsidy program. The citizens got subsidy of Rs60 per kg on wheat flour, Rs21 on sugar; Rs250 on ghee/oil, and Rs15-20 on pulses and rice,” Haseeb said.

A beneficiary, Muhammad Ghazi, said this subsidy programme is helpful to some extent for the poor and low-income people. He said the government should revise and update this subsidy for further decrease in the prices of essential household items. He also requested the government to constitute committees to monitor prices at common general stores because many utility stores are far away from the reach of the common man.

Another customer, Sadaf Parveen, told WealthPK that the targeted subsidy is good, but this is not enough, and further decrease in the prices of the basic items must be ensured. She appealed to the government to take measures to bring down the prices of vegetables.

Credit:

Independent News Pakistan-INP