Many Pakistanis are currently grappling with a key question: what is the real cause of the high inflation that has overburdened them in recent years? Is it due to cost-push factors such as high production costs and the devaluation of the Pakistani Rupee, or does it stem from the inflated prices of essential commodities and unchecked profiteering by processors, middlemen, or farmers?
Against this backdrop, the Punjab Price Control of Essential Commodities Act 2024, passed by the Punjab Assembly on June 10, 2024, is an initiative by the PML-N, in line with its manifesto, which promises to curb inflation and enhance the populace’s buying power.
Up until recently, Deputy Commissioners used to refer to archaic legislation — the Punjab Food Stuffs Control Act 1958 and the Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act 1977 — to set the prices of essential commodities in the districts. Therefore, the introduction of a new legislation is indeed commendable.
However, the new legislation has unfortunately replicated not only the core concept, but also all the key provisions of the 1977 Act. The overarching objectives, scheme, and prescriptive regime have largely remained unchanged.
The new Act replicates older legislations and allows the government control over nearly all agricultural and livestock produce prices while failing to address regulation mechanisms to reduce inflation
Furthermore, the Act has ambitiously expanded the list of essential commodities to include additional agricultural crops, thus extending the scope of the 1977 Act to all major crops of Pakistan — wheat, paddy (not rice), cotton, and corn (maize) — as well........