In a country that houses more than 40 million people who live below the poverty line, the cost of living is rising with each passing day. But no political party seems to be interested in addressing this important issue.
Around 67 percent of the population does not have a roof over their heads, more than 34 percent of children are malnourished and stand the risk of stunted growth and over 20 million out-of-school children do not feature on the priority list of our ruling elite.
The neoliberal philosophy has disburdened the state from its basic responsibilities, reducing this political entity to a tax-collecting machine and a tool of coercion. Despite spending a whopping amount on preserving law and order, the security of ordinary citizens still remains at risk. Danger to their lives persist at all times. Thousands perish every year while resisting a robbery, getting embroiled in tribal clashes and falling victims to sectarian targeted killings or honour crimes. Those who are responsible for protecting us are either busy guarding VIPs and VVIPs or sheltering the very elements that deserve to be behind bars.
After spending billions of rupees on maintaining law and order, we have not witnessed crime-free cities. Instead, we have seen a mushrooming of private security firms that oblige people to pay more money for their security. Even then, this rare commodity called security is nowhere in sight. For instance in 2016 – between January 1 and December 15 – 14,974 Karachiites had their mobile phones snatched at gunpoint while 17,790 mobile phones were stolen. Nearly 1,500 cars were stolen, 2,342 motorbikes were snatched and 21,028 motorbikes thefts were reported during the same year. This is just a story of one of the country’s city and is based only on cases that have been registered.
Law and order is not the only area where the state has failed miserably. The oil tanker explosion in Ahmedpur Sharqia has exposed the sheer incompetence of the ruling elite in dealing with the health sector’s problems. The story does not end here. Thousands of basic health units and hospitals are non-functional, understaffed and being used for other purposes. Politicians often do not complete the health projects of their predecessors and thereby allow billions of rupees to go to waste. Most health facilities that have been completed are eventually neglected.
In a country laden with motorways and highways, hundreds of roads are in a shambles, causing frequent accidents and the loss of lives. Violations of traffic rules also contribute to deadly accidents that take many lives every year. However, the authorities concerned have not devised an effective policy to deal with the situation. Although billions of rupees have been pumped into building roads for the luxury of the elite, limited attention has been paid to the improving railways – which remain a cheap means of transport for millions of people working and living in various parts of the country.
Despite paying heavy taxes and costly energy bills, the poor segments of this land of the pure are still deprived of basic amenities. Inflation and the cost of living have risen to such an extent that even the middle classes are finding it hard to grapple with the situation. This has forced many people who belong to the middle class to search for extra sources of income. The growing number of highly-educated youth who have joined private car companies as part-time drivers, the mass migration of Pakistanis to Australia, Canada and Western countries and the Middle East and the establishment of small businesses by many people from the middle class clearly shows that people are desperate to search for suitable means of earning extra income to tide over the flood of inflation and cost of living.
Even in working class areas of Pakistan, parents with six to eight children have been compelled to send their children to so-called English medium schools. As a result, they have to pay between Rs2,000 and Rs4,000 out of their meagre resources. When people in these areas fall sick, they must go to private hospitals or clinics. In many cases, this deprives them of all their savings or leaves them in debts. The rising fear of diseases and the supply of contaminated water have collectively forced millions of Pakistanis to purchase water. This has added to their miseries.
Frequent power outages have also resulted in a rise in the cost of living. One would hardly find any area in major urban centres without a UPS or generator. People from the bottom layer of social stratification often spend years saving up to buy an electrical appliance. But such appliances develop faults owing to the low voltage or frequent power breakdowns – especially in large cities like Karachi.
The privatisation of basic amenities is one of the major factors that contribute to a rise in the cost of living. For instance, in the past, medical students would study in state-run medical colleges and paid little for their studies. But today, a student must pay between Rs300,000 and Rs800,000 to complete his or her degree in a state-run medical university while elite private medical colleges charge a staggering Rs6 million to Rs8 million for such degrees.
If a doctor spends so much money on his or her studies, the first thing that he or she is likely to do is to recover that money. It goes without saying who eventually pays this money. The same goes for other professions like business management, law and engineering.
The state may have a number of excuses to avoid its responsibilities. But it can at least easily resolve the rising cost of living by providing clean drinking water, free quality education and medical facilities. This will help professionals to do away with matters that force them to recover capital, which they have invested not to serve the people but to multiply their investment. This will also provide relief to those who regard the government as a tax-collecting machine and a coercive tool.
The writer is a Karachi-based freelance journalist.
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