Srinagar- The people in Kashmir Valley are complaining that the shopkeepers are selling dates at exorbitant rates with the Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) doing little enough to check the rates.
Dates are consumed worldwide by the people at the time of Iftaar—the time of breaking the fast. It is available at almost every grocery store and shop in the Valley.
“It’s Sunnah (Prophet Muhammad’s practice) to break the fast with dates,” said Mohammad Haris, a resident of Srinagar.
Due to its high demand, a number of shopkeepers, including street vendors, switch to selling dates during this month. The markets in Srinagar city and other towns of the valley popular for dates, remain abuzz with customers.
In Ramzan, the demands of the dates remain exceptionally high throughout the month. However, the department allegedly seems helpless in taking any measures to keep a check on the rising prices.
“We have this problem every year. There is no mechanism to keep a tap on rates,” said Shafeeq Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar.
Ahmad says the consumers have no choice other than to buy the dates at high prices.
Hilal Ahmad, another Srinagar resident said that the sellers take undue advantage of the holy month and have been selling the dates at varying prices.
A variety of dates are imported to the valley from different countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Algeria, Qatar etc.
The dealers argue that due to the high demand of dates in this month, the rates are high from the companies.
“Mostly high-end dates are in demand. We have low-cost dates available as well. The consumers buy the dates according to their budget,” said Abdul Rashid, a well-known dry fruit seller in Koker-Bazaar, Srinagar.
Rashid almost sells 2 tons of different varieties of dates every day. “The rates vary from Rs 150 to Rs 1500 per kg.
Another dealer Gani Kumar at Parimpora Fruit Mandi said that they sell 5000 boxes of dates, weighing five kilograms each, at the beginning of Ramzan.
Different types of dates are sold in Kashmir including both high-range and low-range, mainly Ajwa, Mabroom, Kalmi, Sudayi, Sukhri, Amber, and Medjool.
According to reports, The Ajwa dates are selling at Rs 1250/kg, Mabroom Rs 1000/kg, Kalmi Rs 650/kg, Sudayi Rs 700/kg, Sukhri Rs 700/kg.
Dr Abdul Salam Mir, Director, FCS&CA, Kashmir told Kashmir Observer that the department has constituted four market-checking teams in Srinagar city and other parts of the valley to check the food pricing.
“We can’t do much about dates since they are exported from outside but we will definitely check whether the dates are sold at genuine prices,” Mir said.
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