Pakistan: Vegetables becoming out of reach for common man
The dealers are not only looting consumers, but hoarding maximum food items particularly potatoes, ginger, onions and tomatoes to create artificial shortage of these vegetables and become billionaire but it is quite ironical that the local authorities management seeing the whole drama with closed eyes.
The dealers and retailers are working in liaison and presenting the excuse that supply of vegetables has suffered due to floods in Central Punjab for several days. The dealers also warned that public would bear higher prices of vegetables crops of vegetables suffered damages because of severe floods.
In this situation, the purchasing power of the common man has endured a major blow due to increasing inflation, while the lethargic attitude of the concerned authorities to check the hike in prices of items of daily use in the retail market has made the matters worse for the public. The ineffectiveness of price control magistrates in maintaining the prices of daily commodities particularly vegetables in the open market could be gauged from the fact that prices of commodities in the retail market are almost four times high as compared to the prices in the wholesale market. So one wonders as where are authorities to control this injustice.
A survey conducted by ‘The News’ consumers facing two problems, first the prices in retail market are almost four times as compared to Sabzi Mandis and secondly an artificial shortage. For more than five months potatoes are being sold at Rs60, but for some days it’s rate has gone up to Rs80, onions at Rs50 against Rs36, tomatoes at Rs70 against Rs30 and buying ginger is a big dream for a common man as it is being sold at Rs360-400 per kilograms. Similarly, cabbage is sold at Rs80-100 against Rs30-35, Capsicum at Rs100-120 against Rs40-50, ‘arvi’ at Rs80 against Rs40, ‘tori’ at Rs100 against Rs50-60, peas at Rs160 against Rs80-100, and ‘teenda’ at Rs100 against Rs60-70.
It is worth mentioning here that common customers would not get any kind of subsidy from Sabzi Mandis because wholesale dealers in Sabzi Mandis are not interested to sell food items to common customers due to under hand dealing with retail shopkeepers.
When ‘The News’ contacted Additional District Collector (ADC) Imran Qureshi said he would call an emergency meeting of all price control magistrates to devise a strategy to check these violations. “All price magistrates would be ordered to raid retail shops in the city and check the prices and if found guilty, the violators could be arrested and punished accordingly,” he added. He also assured to arrest hoarders to stop artificial shortage.
Source: thenews.com.pk