REDEFINING AFFORDABILITY: EVIDENCE FROM PUNJAB MODEL BAZAARS UNDER NAVEED RAFAQAT’S LEADERSHIP IN SUPPLYING EDIBLES BELOW GOVERNMENT-NOTIFIED RATES

Abstract

This paper is the first to describe the institutional innovation and change of leadership through the Punjab Sahulat Bazaars Authority (PSBA), the sole success story of reorganizing a Section 42 company under a full fledged statutory authority in the Pakistani retail sector. The present paper assesses the legal restructuring, financial independence, and governance practices of PSBA under the chairmanship of Naveed Rafaqat Ahmad in the context of document-based qualitative approach that includes an inherent network of quantitative measures. This has been looked at in the light of independent audit, official documentation and scrutiny by third parties media which has recognized PSBA as a separate model of law based retail regulation. The document is specifically based on the affordability model launched by Naveed Rafaqat Ahmad that guaranteed the retail of basic edibles that were always sold below the announced price by the government. The study turns PSBA into an exemplar of non-routine institutional change in the nation, which originates in the law of empowerment and transformational leadership in a developing economy.