KARACHI: Mukhtaran, 30, a housemaid, is currently working in five houses in an upscale locality of Karachi and drawing a salary of Rs3,500. She supports a family of five. Although her entire family works, they are still living hand to mouth and making both ends meet is becoming increasingly difficult with each passing day.

After paying their house rent and the utility bills, a major portion of their income is spent on food items, which are sadly becoming out of reach for them.

They have stopped consuming milk, fruit, meat, fish and poultry and with the advent of Ramazan, staple food items are also becoming beyond their reach.

This is not the story of Mukhtaran alone. Millions of Pakistanis are sailing in the same boat. Putting two square meals on the table is becoming a Herculean task for them and they look towards the government to provide them some subsidies to alleviate their sufferings.

Millions are trying to fight off food inflation through endless queues outside government-run low-price outlets called Utility Stores throughout the length and breadth of the country.

According to a recent World Food Programme report, nearly half of Pakistan’s 160 million people are at the risk of going short of food due to the surge in prices.

Inflation, especially food inflation, is more a human problem than anything else. The worst sufferers are the low-income groups who have no means to protect themselves against its effects.

The government defends itself and states that higher food inflation is a global phenomenon and the international food price index is up by 16.1 per cent. This stand is justified to a certain extent as the food crisis is rearing its head in all corners of the globe, especially in the developing world, where food consumption constitutes up to 70 per cent of a family’s budget.

The higher food prices have already been cited as a reason for violence in Haiti, protests by Argentinean farmers and riots in sub-Saharan Africa.

‘Hyper-inflation’

Shedding light on the phenomenon, Dr Abid Suleri, Executive Director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), says: “Pakistan is facing hyper-inflation, which is both supply-demand driven, as well as due to external factors. I think what really is important is the perception of inflation which is not determined by the rates we see in terms of various indices. It is what the consumer feels at the market level.”

According to the latest Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) figures, food inflation during August 2008 stood at an unprecedented 34.09 per cent, which pushed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation to 25.33 per cent, an increase of 2.14 per cent over July 2008. These price patterns along with ever-increasing rates of petrol and diesel, mounting utility bills, escalating living costs and expensive medical facilities have made life difficult for the majority of the people. It seems that markets are fully under the control of unscrupulous hoarders, profiteers and manipulators, while the administration seems to be hand in glove with these elements.

Mohammad Hayat, a driver working in a government office, works on a part-time basis to supplement his income and support his extended family. He says that with the arrival of Ramazan the prices of all food items have skyrocketed and his family is not even able to consume a nutritious Sehr or Iftar.

Maleeha, a single mother, narrates a similar tale and says that rising inflation has made life difficult for the fixed income group. They have had to cut corners to meet the additional expenses on this head and compromise on other vital expenses.

When this writer asks the official in charge of the CDGK’s price-control campaign, Matanat Ali Khan, what steps the city government is taking to control the prices, he answers: “The city government has set up 34 complaint centres and at the same time appointed first class magistrates – two each in every town – to keep close liaison with the shopkeepers and customers.”

However, he points out that people are not very cooperative and the public response is lukewarm.

Panic buying

The escalating food prices have even dampened the pleasures of Ramazan, which is considered the holiest and most festive month throughout the Muslim world. As Dr Suleri explains, “During Ramazan, everyone is in a festive mood. After the day-long fast, people tend to break their fast with a variety of food items. This increases the demand and panic buying leads to maddening price hike.”

In the absence of any effective price control mechanism and a lack of consumer rights protection, traders ask for irrational prices that they get due to increased demand, he adds.

Coming to measures that should be taken to control the phenomenon, Dr Suleri puts it in plain words. “The government should ensure a price regulatory mechanism and has to intervene and ensure a stable supply of essential food commodities at affordable prices, such as the action taken by the government of Punjab against wheat flour.”

The other important issue is the transparency and inclusiveness of social safety nets as the limited number of Utility Stores cannot meet the requirements of 70 per cent of the population living below $2 per day.

“Governance issues and public distribution schemes need to be addressed on a priority basis,” adds Dr Suleri.

On the other hand, domestic philanthropists have to play their role in ensuring a steady supply of food to the poorest among the poor. Finally, the consumers should change their attitude of excessive and surplus buying as we need to develop austerity at the personal as well as the collective level.