LAHORE, Jun 16 (APP):In the next fiscal year, the Punjab government has allocated Rs 11.3 billion for development and Rs 30 billion for non-development expenditures of Punjab Food Authority (PFA), price control and its enforcement.
In his budget speech on the floor of the Punjab Assembly here Monday, Provincial Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that establishment of Punjab Enforcement Regulatory Authority (PERA) is also among the important achievements of the present government, which aims to strengthen the government budget through district and tehsil activities to ensure Anti-Encroachment and Price Control. “We have recently allocated a budget for this newly established authority in the non-development budget of the next fiscal year to maintain the continuity of our most successful Anti-Encroachment and Price Control campaign throughout the province. We have allocated Rs 22 billion for the PERA,” he added. Furthermore, the estimate for the financial year 2025-26 also includes a plan for the second phase of establishing PERA Enforcement Stations at a cost of Rs 5 billion.
He said, the government has done a lot of work in one year to provide quality goods at affordable prices to the citizens under Price Control & Commodities Management. The Punjab government has also established a separate department to curb overselling, hoarding and protect the rights of the common citizen, for which a total of Rs. 18 billion has been set aside. Under this initiative, government plans to establish Flagship Facilitation Bazaars in 100 tehsils across Punjab during the next financial year, for which a fund of Rs. 10 billion has been allocated.
The role of Punjab Food Authority (PFA), he said, in ensuring the supply of world-class food items is commendable, and the government is going to establish PFA House at a cost of Rs. 1.2 billion to enhance the capacity of this authority. In the next financial year, a modern and quality Food Testing Laboratory and Testing School would be built in Rawalpindi under the PFA at a cost of Rs. 400 million, he added.
