Under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s relief package, essential food items will be provided at subsidised rates at the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) outlets across the country from today (Sunday).

Keeping in mind the difficulties and problems faced by the people, PM Shehbaz announced the provision of targeted subsidies on basic food items through USC. These items include flour, sugar, ghee, rice and pulses.

Consumers enrolled in the Benazir Income support Programme (BISP) are eligible to get food items at subsidised rates from the USC outlets.

The corporation has asked its all customers to SMS their CNIC numbers from their mobile phones to 5566 and they will receive a one-time password after which they can avail subsidy and purchase items.

In June 2022, the premier decided in principle that the government would provide flour, ghee, cooking oil, pulses, rice and sugar at low prices during the fiscal year 2022-23.

Details of the package

For the registered consumers with BISP, the essential food items will be available at the following rates:

• Flour — Rs400 per 10 kg bag
• Ghee — Rs300 per kg 
• Sugar — Rs70 per kg

Meanwhile, Rs15 to Rs20 will be saved on rice and pulses per kg, however, the monthly purchase limit for the consumers is also fixed.

According to the purchase limits, a consumer would be able to purchase 40kg of flour, 5kg of sugar and 5kg of ghee monthly, besides, all other consumers of Utility Stores Corporation will also be provided subsidies on these five food items under the relief package.

For the other consumers, the prices will be as follows:

• Flour — Rs648 per 10kg bag
• Ghee — Rs375 per kg 
• Sugar — Rs 89 per kg

Whereas, a Rs15 to Rs20 per kg discount on the purchase of pulses and rice will also be provided to consumers other than those registered with BISP.

The monthly purchase limit for these consumers is also set according to which they can buy 20kg of flour, 3kg of sugar, and 3kg of ghee.

For the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the flour will be provided for Rs400 per 10 kg bag at all the sales points and mobile stores established on the instruction of the prime minister.