Although the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) worked out a comprehensive plan in 2008 to set up bachat bazaars in each town of the city, this important step towards providing relief to poor masses has not been taken despite the passage of three years. In May 2008, then city nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal had issued directives to the CDGK’s Enterprises and Investment Promotion (E&IP) Department to establish two model bazaars in every town, aimed at providing citizens with direct access to essential commodities at cheaper rates in a healthy competitive environment and to discourage the profiteering mafia that had also entered in bachat bazaar business.
At the time of announcement, it was said that the bazaars in each town would be established by July 2008.
The CDGK also decided to take genuine manufacturers on board and market their products on cheaper rates at the bachat bazaars, established under public-private partnership basis.
However, sources confided with Pakistan Today that the E&IP had adopted such mechanisms that restricted a common citizen to start a business in bachat bazaars and as a result, the profiteering mafia has taken over the bazaars. The common people have no other option but to approach the same profiteering groups, which provide them with temporary stalls at the bachat bazaars but on exorbitant rates, they added.
With no progress on the establishment of model bachat bazaars, around 230 illegal bachat bazaars – set up on amenity plots such as parks and playgrounds – are operating in the city on a regular basis.
The failure of CDGK in establishing bachat bazaars and closing down the illegal ones has inflicted colossal losses of revenue of up to 80 percent to the CDGK. For January-June 2008, the expected revenue from such bazaars was Rs 10 million, but the total revenue earned was not more than Rs 1.5 million.
Under the CDGK plan, only registered and genuine parties were to be allotted stalls in the bazaars and the role of middlemen, profiteers and hoarders eliminated. The bachat bazaars would have had some reserved stalls for jobless youth and also women to sell their handicrafts or other wares.
Pakistan Today repeatedly tried to contact CDGK E&IP EDO Dr Saifur Rehman but his mobile phone remained unattended until the filing of this report.