LAHORE: The Punjab government will establish 1,216 ‘Maryam Dastarkhwan’ across 152 tehsils of the province during Ramazan under the Ramazan Nigehban Package, said Salma Butt, Assistant to the Chief Minister for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
She was chairing a high-level meeting at the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Department to review arrangements for Ramazan.
The meeting was attended by Chairman Sahulat Bazar Authority Malik Afzal Khokhar, Chairman Punjab Agriculture Marketing Regulatory Authority Malik Ahmad Saeed, Secretary Food Safety and Consumer Protection Dr Kiran Khurshid, Director General Punjab Food Authority Asim Javed, DG Food Amjad Hafeez, DG Commodities Imran Qureshi, DG PEMRA Tariq Ali Basra and other senior officials.
Addressing the meeting, Salma Butt said that all Ramazan, model and sahulat bazaars across Punjab would be fully functional by February 15, ahead of the holy month. She added that the operating hours of Ramazan bazaars would be from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
She announced that during Ramazan, a 10-kg bag of subsidised wheat flour would be available at Rs 850 in all Ramazan, model and sahulat bazaars, compared to the regular market price of Rs 905. To ensure uninterrupted supply of flour, she said all flour mills in Punjab would establish three sale points each in their respective districts where subsidised flour would be available in sufficient quantity.
The assistant to the CM further stated that under the Ramazan Nigehban Package, chicken would be available at Rs 15 per kg cheaper and eggs at Rs 10 per dozen cheaper in Ramazan, model and sahulat bazaars, while other essential commodities would also be sold at rates lower than the open market.
Providing details of Maryam Dastarkhwan, Salma Butt said each dastarkhwan would provide meals to 250 people daily throughout Ramazan. She added that the Punjab Food Authority would conduct daily quality checks, and the food quality and menu would remain uniform across all Dastarkhwans.
She also informed the meeting that essential food items would be available at wholesale rates at 105 large stores in Lahore, where the Food Authority would regularly monitor quality standards. In addition, the Punjab Food Authority representatives would perform duties in three shifts at all Ramazan, model and sahulat bazaars to monitor the quality of essential commodities.
Salma Butt said district administrations across Punjab had completed their preparatory work ahead of Ramazan. She added that construction work and geo-tagging of manholes in markets across the province were also in progress to ensure better management and facilitation during the holy month.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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