Chicken going out of common man’s reach

Rawalpindi

Like beef and mutton now it seems, chicken is also going out of the reach of a common man as the government has failed to check the rising prices of the poultry. 1 kilogram meat of chicken is sold at Rs310 per kilogram. 

Chicken, which was easily available at Rs150 per kilogram a few days back and now its sudden escalation has affected large number of people who could not buy ‘mutton’ as it is sold at Rs700 and some of butchers here at Banni, Sarafa Bazaar, Saddar, Commercial Market and Adiala Road are selling it at Rs750 per kilogram. Therefore majority of families prefer chicken as compared to mutton because chicken is available at cheaper prices.    

But, poultry tycoons following the footsteps of butchers have started looting public with both hands while there was not government role to control chicken prices. 

Rawalpindi Chicken Retailers Association representatives have warned that if government will not taken this issue seriously 1-kilogram chicken will escalate further. They have rejected all news regarding shortage of chicken added that poultry tycoons wanted to mint money. Our sale has strongly reduced because of rising prices, they said. They said that prices of chicken have increased suddenly in wholesale markets and they have no idea why. The wholesale dealers presenting excuse of shortage of commodity, they claimed. 

Chicken Wholesale Dealers Association representatives said that prices have gone up because of shortage of chicken in the poultry farms. A large number of chickens died due to unexpected weather in the country particularly in Potohar region. Chicken prices may further increase in coming days, they warned.

Talking to ‘The News’ people belonging to different walks of life strongly condemned increasing prices of chicken to an unaffordable level. They have appealed government to take notice of the situation. 

Additional District Collector General (ADCG) Imran Ahmed Qureshi also admitted that chicken is selling at skyrocketing prices. “Our price magistrates are continuously visiting markets to arrest profiteers who are selling chicken at skyrocketing prices,” he claimed. He said that chicken prices are fixed on daily basis therefore they can take action against profiteers. 

A survey conducted by ‘The News’ revealed that the big wholesale markets are at Raja Bazaar, Dingi Khoi, Dhoke Ratta, Shamsabad, Ghazni Market and Bagh Sardaran where chicken comes from different areas. Majority of poultry farms are in Murree, Bhara Kahu, Chak Beli Khan, Attock, Taxila, Wah and several other localities of Potohar region.  

In a statement, Poultry Farms Association President Dr Hassan Sarosh said businessmen had invested around Rs200 billion in the poultry industry and 1.5 million people were attached to the industry. He said there were 25,000 poultry farms are in the country. Chicken prices will down come soon, he said in a statement.