PRIME Minister Imran Khan on Thursday directed the authori
ties concerned to take all possible measures to curb hoarding and profiteering besides devising a time-based mechanism to provide relief to the masses against the price hike. Chairing a meeting to review steps to control the prices of commodities and measures for the common man’s relief, the Prime Minister said the government realized that the people, particularly the low-income class, had been facing difficulties amid the course of economic reforms.
There is no doubt that the Prime Minister has regularly been holding meetings with the officials concerned in an attempt to devise a concrete strategy to curb the menace of price-hike that has become one of the major concern of the people of Pakistan. His acknowledgement that the reform programme of the government is resulting into difficulties for the people is also an indication that he was aware of the miseries of the masses. However, it is unfortunate that the series of meetings that the Prime Minister has held with officials of the ministries concerned and representatives of the provinces have not yet translated into any tangible relief for the people. The price-hike is, no doubt, affecting badly the low-income class, as pointed out by the Prime Minister but others are not immune to the problem as the phenomenon is forcing them to compromise on the quality of their life. Targeted actions like Ehsaas Programme, health insurance cover to a few hundred thousand people out of a population of 220 million and one-time limited relief of Rs 7 billion for the entire country through Utility Stores, which are not accessible to all, are no answer to the overall miserable plight of the people. Apart from tangible policy measures that have direct relevance to the situation, the Government needs to activate its price-control mechanism to take firm action against hoarders and profiteers. So far, the Government has not succeeded even to streamline supply of wheat flour and as a consequence millers are exploiting the situation by increasing its rate every now and then without any justification. Same is the case with sugar the prices of which were jacked up by the mafia, having influence in corridors of power, and the authorities have not been able to bring down the prices. Time-based mechanism to address the menace of price-hike, reduction in price of fertilizer and also reduction in electricity and gas tariff could help provide genuine relief to people.
