ISLAMABAD – The provincial chief secretaries on Monday asked the government to revive the old magistracy system to enforce the hoarding act in order to deal with the rising inflation, an official source said.
The provincial chief secretaries were speaking during a specially convened meeting chaired by Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood Khan to finalise recommendations for the PPP ministerial and PML-N joint committee. The implementation of profiteering and hoarding act by provinces would make mandatory for traders to declare and report their stocks to the authorities, the source said, adding that the law could be helpful to curb inflation, as necessary mechanism was available to deal with hoarders.
The meeting also discussed the possibilities to increase the number of Friday and Sunday bazaars to cater to the needs of the lower and middle income groups. Provincial authorities were of the view that the revival of the magistracy system, abolished by the General (r) Musharraf regime in 2002 under the local government ordinance, was critical to monitoring prices of essential commodities.
The revival of magistracy system would empower municipal inspectors to check the prices of essential commodities like pulses, rice ghee, sugar and flour in the markets and take appropriate action against those involved in unfair business practices. Balochistan has already revived the magistracy system for better monitoring of essential commodities.
The recommendations finalised by the meeting would be submitted to the PPP-PML-N committee for consideration and final decision on January 26.
