An important meeting of the Punjab Price Control Council was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Special Assistant for Price Control Salma Butt.Members of the Punjab Assembly Muhammad Bilal Yamin, Chaudhry Javed Ahmed and Farzana Abbas attended the meeting, along with Secretary Price Control Dr Kiran Khurshid, Chairman Sahulat Bazaar Authority Afzal Khokhar, Director General Enforcement Imran Qureshi and other senior officers.During the meeting, two summaries were presented for approval. The first summary pertained to the nomination of three private experts to the Price Control Council, which was approved by the council members. The second summary related to the delegation of powers and responsibilities of the Provincial Controllers General and the Secretary Price Control to relevant officers. This summary was unanimously approved by the council.Speaking on the occasion, Salma Butt said the Price Control Council had approved the delegation of powers concerning 49 essential commodities to various departments in order to ensure uninterrupted supply across Punjab. She said that powers related to oxygen gas cylinders, surgical gloves, face masks, all types of surface cleaners and isopropyl alcohol had been delegated to the Secretary Health, while powers concerning all types of seeds, grains and agricultural pesticides had been assigned to the Secretary Agriculture.She said that powers related to vegetable oil, ghee, mineral water, filtered water, ice, tea, LPG, LNG and bricks had been delegated to the Director General Industries. Powers concerning milk, yogurt, mutton, beef and eggs had been assigned to the Director General Extension, Livestock and Dairy Development, while powers related to poultry feed and live and meat broiler chicken had been delegated to the Director General Research, Livestock and Dairy Development.According to the decisions, powers related to sand, crushed gravel, coal, cement, kerosene oil and salt had been delegated to the Director General Mines and Minerals. Powers concerning wheat, flour, fine flour, naan, roti, bread, sugar, gur, paddy and samosas had been assigned to the Director General Food and the Cane Commissioner. Powers related to all types of fruits, vegetables, pulses, spices and dates had been delegated to the Director General Punjab Agriculture Marketing Regulatory Authority, while powers concerning all types of fertilizers, chemicals and cotton had been assigned to the Deputy Director Agriculture Extension Punjab.The Punjab Price Control Council stated that its objective is to ensure continuous availability and advance management of essential commodities so that uninterrupted supply of all essential items can be maintained across the province
