Economic disparity

LAHORE: Class differences have widened in Pakistan in the last two decades. The rich are shielded from the increase in the cost of living because their incomes have increased correspondingly or more, while the poor are forced to prioritize which essential expense to drop.

Food is one common commodity that is consumed by all 240 million Pakistanis. The rich spend from 5-10 percent of their income on the best nutritious food. The lower strata of society consume 80 percent of their income on inferior quality food. The runaway food inflation in the last four years has forced many poor to live in a semi-starved state.

Around 80 percent of the money in circulation that we observe in the markets comes from around 20 million of the population comprising businessmen, bureaucrats, and politicians.This is the reason that we still see textile brands launching new expensive products every day. By some estimates, the textile companies and designers roll out fabric or dresses worth more than Rs500 billion per year for the affluent.

The lower segments of society are offered inferior fabric at 1/3 to 1/4 the price of expensive brands. That means around 20 million of the richer population buys textile goods worth Rs500 billion and the remaining 220 million manage their needs with textile worth Rs150 billion or use discarded dresses of the rich or used clothes imported from abroad.

In cars, the lower middle class cannot afford to buy the cheapest car that is worth Rs3 million in our country. Those living just above the middle class that used to buy 1300cc cars at Rs2 million a decade back, are now forced to buy 600cc cars at Rs3 million. The sales of cars worth above Rs10 million or more have multiplied in the last two decades as the richest segment of society is not short of resources.

The well-to-do parents that could afford to enroll their children in schools with a monthly fee of Rs15,000 in 2004, now find it difficult to afford the fees of the same schools that have escalated to above Rs40,000 per month. Managing the fee of two children is not possible for them now.

After a steep rise in power rates, air conditioners are relics of the past. They are still installed, but low-end consumers cannot dare to use them because of the increase in power tariffs. The richer segments can afford high power tariffs, but they have installed solar power under a net metering system under which they sell the additional power they produce to the national grid.

No one likes getting ill, but illness cannot be avoided. It is a nightmare for the poor as the medicines have become very expensive and doctors' charges have multiplied. For the rich, there are posh five-star rooms available for them as they can afford high treatment charges and doctors' fees.

People generally have no issue with the rich if they enjoy life from their own resources, but half of them indulge in luxury by earning money through illegal means or through bribes. No government in Pakistan has raised the governance bar to deny unscrupulous elements the luxuries that they do not deserve.