Baramulla, Aug 21: Residents of this north Kashmir district today said many traders in the district were overcharging from the customers with authorities playing indifferent to the plight of aam admi.
 While slamming the district administration particularly the department for consumer affairs and public distribution (CAPD) for their “failure” to ensure the traders display valid rate lists, the locals said the prices of many goods including vegetables and fruits have arbitrarily been increased by the traders.
 “While the increasing prices of the food and other items have already broken the back of the common consumers. Many traders since the beginning of Ramadan have started fleecing the customers even more by arbitrary increasing the rate of many products,” they said.
 The locals alleged that the CAPD is not sending its market checking teams to ensure that the goods are sold at the prices fixed by the government. “The vegetable and fruit vendors here don’t keep a rate list. They sell these products at a rate of their choice,” said Ghulam Rasool, a teacher.
 The customers also complained against mutton sellers accusing them of selling the meat at exorbitant prices. “While the government has fixed the rate for mutton per kg at Rs 240, you cannot get it anywhere at such rate in the district,” said a customer.
 “The meat is being sold at Rs 260 per kg, and chicken at 90-95 per kg,” said Muhammad Ashraf, a resident of old town Baramulla.
 When contacted Deputy Commissioner Baramulla Bashir Ahmad Bhat said that market checking will be soon intensified in the town and traders found guilty will be took to task.
 Bhat said: ‘We have already constituted a committee and fixed rates for different commodities. A thorough market checking will be carried out within two to three days.”

Lastupdate on : Sun, 21 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 21 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 IST