The Punjab government will rely on CCTV cameras to monitor and control the quality of food and their prices at Ramzan Bazaars across the province.
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed all the district governments for uploading district Ramzan Bazaar’s Electronic Rate Boards, installing CCTVs, LEDs, and Price Control Dashboards within 24 hours. The district governments are directed for sending CCTV IPs as well.
The directions were issued to monitor the quality of food and their rates. The government has also setup a centralized control room at the civil secretariat to monitor the performance of Ramzan Bazars through CCTV cameras.
Nevertheless, the Punjab government has not sanctioned or provided any separate budget to the district governments for installing these CCTVs or other equipments. The directions have perturbed the district governments which have to cut the development budget for the purchase and installation of abovementioned items. There are over 400 Ramzan Bazaars throughout Punjab which will be monitored by control rooms at Civil Secretariat.