Despite formation of commissions and tall government claims to provide relief to the masses, mafias behind the sugar and flour crises seem unbridled. There appears nothing on the ground for the price-hike stricken people as the government has neither been able to ensure sufficient supply nor control the prices, revealed the report of a survey conducted by Pakistan Observer on Friday.
During the survey, it was found the citizens of the metropolis are sobbing under the burden of ever-rising price hike. The citizens are compelled to pay Rs95 for one kilogramme of sugar. Similarly, the flour price has shot up to Rs70 per kilogramme.
This situation has forced people to say that there is no one to check the trend despite the fact that the prices of these two staple food items are on the rise continuously.
The masses are hapless as on the one hand, they are braving unprecedented price hike while on the other, business closure due to Covid-19 has been eating up on their financial position.
Similarly, the Punjab government has failed miserably in checking the price hike other daily-use items, leave alone the sugar and flour across the province.
That’s why one kilogramme of sugar is available for Rs95 to Rs100 in Lahore. Same is the case with flour as the 20-kg bag could not be sold according to the demand and fixed price.
And even the Utility Stores of Pakistan has been unable to provide relief to the people. In Multan, the 20-kg flour bag is now available for Rs1,020 against the approved rate of Rs860. Meanwhile, the sugar price is ranging between Rs90 to Rs92. It is a very troubling fact because the government had promised to keep the sugar price at Rs70.
Moreover, the PTI is the ruling party not only in the Centre but also Punjab which means there shouldn’t be any confusion when it comes to policy making and execution.
The citizens said the government, on one hand, was making claims about providing relief but the people on the other had been facing great hardships in getting even the daily use items like flour and sugar.