The trend of rising prices of kitchen items continues unabated, eroding the value of each rupee earned by the common man. Despite tall claims of the Federal and provincial governments, price of pulses, cooking oil, chicken, mutton, tea, eggs, vegetables, onion, tomatoes, garlic and other kitchen items have all increased in the recent weeks.
The administrative measures, required to ensure smooth supply of essential commodities at affordable prices, remain inadequate and the wholesalers and retailers continue increasing prices of kitchen items. In addition prices of different essential commodities like flour, oil, rice, tea etc vary from shop to shop in different localities of the twin cities. While sugar remains largely invisible in the markets of the twin cities.
A survey conducted by Business Recorder on Wednesday revealed that a dozen eggs was being sold at Rs 82, beef at Rs 250 per kilogram, mutton at Rs 350 per kilogram in the twin cities. Commenting on the prevailing situation, people said that the government had failed to implement the verdict of the apex court regarding availability of sugar as the commodity was not available in the market even at higher rates. Majority of the people, particularly low-salaried classes working in public and private sectors, said it was becoming difficult for them to feed their families.
Talking to Business Recorder, Nasir Abbasi, a waiter at a hotel in Faizababad area of Rawalpindi, said that he was earning only Rs 200 per day after performing more than 12-hour duty and it was difficult for him to send his two children to school as he was barely managing two meals a day for his family.
Nasir added that he was paying Rs 3,000 as house rent and the remaining Rs 3,000 were not enough to sustain life, and sending his children to school, which remains a dream. The price of red chilly has gone up from Rs 150 to Rs 200 per kilogram, registering an increase of Rs 50 per kilogram.
Despite the arrival of fresh crops of pulses - masoor, moong, lobia and channa (gram) - the wholesalers and retailers have increased the prices from the Rs 110 to Rs 120 per kilogram. A housewife Uzma, commenting on the situation, said that those people were lucky, who managed to purchase vegetables and other essential items, besides sending their children to schools and colleges.
She said she used to go to market to buy household items, and every week she noticed an increase of five to 10 percent in prices, adding that she and her husband both were teachers at government school, but now it had become difficult for them to sustain the negative impact of rising prices. Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), on its website, claimed the decline in the prices of the following items in September 2009 over August, 2009:
-- Sugar 11.22 percent, besan 5.30 percent, chicken 3.64 percent, pulse gram 3.52 percent, cooking oil 2.22 percent, dry fruits 2.10 percent, pulse moong 1.55 percent, vegetables 1.51 percent and potatoes 1.06 percent. According to the FBS, the following commodities showed an increase in prices during September 2009 over August 2009:
-- Tomatoes 43.08 percent, onions 11.77 percent, eggs 4.17 percent, fresh fruits 2.9 percent, gur 2.81 percent, fish 2.36 percent, betel leaves & nuts 1.43 percent and wheat flour 1.07 percent. The people of twin cities have attributed high prices to artificial shortages, and blame the wholesalers and retailers for fleecing the consumers at will.
Wholesalers and retailers, defending themselves, said since the prices of everything, including electricity, oil and transportation due to the government''s policy, were going up, therefore, the fault for rising prices must be laid at the doorstep of the government.