Rising prices

Rising prices

Despite assurances given by various government officials that
prices of essentials would remain stable during Ramadhan, this
has not happened in practice.

Prices of many commodities in the market in the run up to and
the first week of the holy month have registered increases. In
many instances, as in the case of meat, the rise has been
unprecedented.

The prices of most vegetables and fruit have also risen in
varying degrees over the past few weeks despite adequate supplies
and with no shortages reported from anywhere. This is a clear
case of profiteering by a section of wholesalers and retailers at
the expense of the hapless consumer while the government looks
the other way. In view of this, one is surprised to read that the
Economic Coordination Council of the cabinet on Friday expressed
satisfaction at the level of prices of essential commodities in
the country during October.

If the government is not even ready to accept the fact that
prices of many essential items have shot up prior to and during
Ramadhan, to expect it to take action against errant shopkeepers
and wholesalers seems to be asking for too much.

It is time the government took more serious notice of the
prevailing situation in markets all over the country and entered
into a dialogue with the representatives of the wholesalers and
retailers on reducing prices and keeping them at a reasonable
level during Ramadhan.

The government should also initiate raids to check prices as
well as the quality of items being sold so that some relief is
provided to the hard-pressed public. However, it must be said
that it would not be fair to blame only the government for the
Ramadhan rise in prices.

The public too must play a part through consumer resistance
and not letting the profiteers have their way. In this regard,
consumer awareness on such issues must be raised by such
organizations like NGOs, which are otherwise quite vocal on
issues of public interests.

It can be safely said that unless both the government and the
consumers cooperate in this effort, the whole exercise to bring
down prices may prove unavailing.

-- The Dawn, Karachi