PTI government has failed to control food inflation
Low income families spending half of their incomes on food
In the last 28 months of PTI rule, the inflation continued
to rise while real incomes fell. The unemployment and poverty are on the rise.
The COVID-19 and economic crisis have made the lives of working people more
miserable. The rising food prices have made millions in Pakistan food insecure.
The poor families find it extremely hard to feed themselves properly.
Most of low- income families are spending nearly 50% of
their meager incomes on food. The rising cost of food has forced the poor
households to significantly decrease the quantity of food to send money on
education and ever-increasing utility bills.
The government continues to increase the prices of
electricity, gas and petrol which in turn increase the cost of production. The
prices of seeds, fertilizers, transportation and diesel have increased many times
in last 28 months of PTI rule.
Food price inflation in Pakistan has been in double digits
since August 2019. The cost of food has been 10.4-19.5% higher than the
previous year in urban areas and 12.6-23.8% in rural areas, figures published
by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics show. In November, urban food prices were
up 13.0% on November 2019, and 16.1% in rural areas.
Pakistan ranks 88th out of the 107 countries assessed in the Global Hunger Index 2020. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report for 2020, prevalence of undernourishment in Pakistan is 12.3% and an estimated 26 million people in Pakistan are undernourished or food-insecure.
“Food access in Pakistan is mostly linked to the income of
the population. The income losses due to Covid-19 may increase food
insecurity,” Mina Dowlatchahi, the FAO representative in Pakistan told the
media.
She said recent income and employment losses, combined with
inflation, have decreased the purchasing power of households. Inflated food
prices will reduce spending, leading to high food insecurity and diet-related
diseases.
There has been massive rise in prices of the commodities as
sugar price witnessed an increase of approximately 80 percent, flour 70 percent
and cooking oil 68 percent in first two years of PTI government.
During first two years of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s
government, price of mill flour skyrocketed to Rs70 which was easily available
at Rs40 earlier. Price of pulses jumped from 150 to 240 while price of sugar
rose to over Rs100 from Rs56. Red chilies also witnessed a massive increase in
price from Rs300 to Rs900 per kg.
Price of one-liter pouch of cooking oil increased from 182
to 250 and even price of boneless beef meat jumped from Rs550 rupees to 700. The
prices of mutton have gone up to Rs1300 per Kg. The chicken prices remained high
for nearly four months. The price of chicken was reached out of the hands of low-income
families and rise up to Rs360 per Kg. The good quality milk is being sold in
the range of Rs90 to 120 per liter. The prices of vegetables are also high and
creating lot of hardships for poor families.
Masses are fed up with the bad governance of the present government, and firmly believe the government should start taking concrete measures to provide some relief to the people instead of accusing the successive governments of all the ills being faced by the country.
Patience of the common man has exhausted, as lollypops of
Ehsaas Programme, youth loans and other public appeasing measures serve a
fraction of the population, while the majority continues to face hunger, as the
food prices continue to increase with each passing day.
The most depressing reality is that the present government
has failed to nab the hoarders, smugglers and profiteers, even though the
government’s own reports pointed finger on some of the culprits that are
sitting within its ranks.
We saw wheat prices soaring when the harvest (enough to feed
the nation till next crop) was available. Today, people are paying almost 60
percent higher price of the commodity than last year. The thuggery of sugar
barons is well known to all. They exploit farmers in many ways, including
breaking the law by not paying them on time for which they can face jail terms.
It seems the state has lost its grip on the markets. Now,
hoarding is a norm. For hoarding sugar and wheat, you need a lot of capital.
The hoarders are influential, as well, but in case of vegetables, the cash
required is much less. The second tier of hoarders have emerged in vegetables. The
farmers part with their produce at very low rates. The hoarders then join hands
to control the supply of each vegetable to enhance the rates. It is because of
this manipulation that prices of all vegetables have touched historic high.
The government need to think seriously about its neoliberal economic
policies. Without addressing the key
issues like unemployment, high inflation, falling incomes and rising poverty
faced by the masses, the government will not be able to provide much needed
relief to the people. The government needs to bring down the inflation and
especially food inflation, unemployment and poverty. The ordinary Pakistanis will
judge the performance of PTI government on the basis of these core issues.
The Editor
IT is because of bad governce . MAFIA ln PTI govt.
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