The prices of most essential kitchen items including wheat flour, sugar, pulses and ghee/cooking oil prices have witnessed a further increase, a survey carried out by Business Recorder revealed Monday.
According to the survey, following the government's decision to impose a lockdown across the country to control the spread of coronavirus, the prices of essential kitchen items have witnessed increase within a week, owing to the government's inaction and flour millers and sugar millers' complicity.
During the survey, traders told this correspondent that ex-mill price of sugar has reached Rs4,200 per 50kg bag, from Rs4,100 per 50kg bag, and ex mill price of wheat flour has reached Rs1,360 per 25kg bag from Rs1,330 per 25kg bag.
They further said that prices of all the pulses, ghee/cooking oil, powder chillies and other items had also been increased.
According to traders, the powder red chilli price has reached Rs500 per kg from Rs450 per kg, dal mong from Rs240 per kg to Rs300 per kg, dal mash from Rs250 per kg to Rs270 per kg, normal dal chana price from Rs140 per kg to Rs180, and prices of all the other pulses have also increased.
The flour millers and sugar millers, after the lockdown have regularly increased the wheat flour and refined sugar prices as the government failed to check the prices.
Flour millers within past one week increased the commodity price by Rs300 per 25kg bag, while stopped supplying government controlled wheat flour bag of 20kg in the market.
Similarly, sugar millers have also taken up the ex-mill sugar price from Rs3,860 per 50kg bag to Rs4,200 per 50kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs88 per kg as against Rs82 per kg.
Traders further said that some of the millers are totally not supplying wheat flour, while those supplying are overcharging, they further said that the supply of sugar remained completely stopped for two days but now the millers were supplying the commodity but at high rates.
The traders said that price of normal quality ghee/cooking oil had also been further increased from Rs2,300 per carton to Rs2,500 per carton. People also complained that owing to the lockdown, the prices of an entire range of essential kitchen items have also been increased on the Utility Stores, adding that wheat flour was not available on the Utility Stores outlets.
Chicken prices also witnessed an increase from Rs4,200 per 40kg to Rs4,800 per 40kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs150 per kg as against Rs120 per kg.