Rawalpindi traders exploiting consumers

Rawalpindi ; Islam teaches that man’s happiness is in making Allah happy and Allah is happy only if we walk in the paths directed by Him. But even fasting and praying during the month of Ramazan could not prevent the traders from taking advantage of the increased demand to make windfall profits,” laments Zamir Haider.

The prices of vegetables, milk, fruits, red meat and chicken, sugar, pulses, cooking oil, ghee have increased sharply in the past couple of days, making the city residents apprehensive about the exorbitant prices of essentials and undue profiteering by traders that has become an inevitable feature of Ramazan in Rawalpindi city,” says Irfan Jafary. “As usual, unscrupulous traders are making windfall profits from the frantic Ramazan shoppers, belying all assurances of the government to keep prices stable in the month of fasting,” adds Irfan.

“At the retail level, prices of most of the vegetables increased by per kilogram in the last two days although in the previous weeks those prices had remained somewhat stable. What the city authorities are doing,” says Arif Alvi. “The sale of lemon at Mundi was at Rs1000 per kilo yesterday. It was not that costlier just a couple of days ago. I do no buy costly items from the Mandi as the people refuse to pay for them and they get rotten resulting in loss to me,” says Altaf Hasan, a vegetable and fruit seller.

“This is just shameless profiteering by wholesalers in Mandi. Why are the prices rising at such a crazy rate even though the stock of vegetables is more than adequate,” asks Imdad Hussain, a bank employee, and resident of Saddar. “The prices of all food items have increased further during the last week of Ramazan. The essential food items, whose price rose in less than a week and this month, are on sale at a much higher rate in different retail outlets in the city,” says Mazhar Ali.

“The prices of imported dates, which are almost an essential item in Iftar for those who can afford it, also increased, and the ordinary grade of dates was also sold at prices unaffordable for the poor segment of the city,” says Nisar Turabi. “Food enthusiasts from different areas of the city who want to buy traditional and special iftar items which are rare in many parts of the city are found disappointed with the high prices. This year iftar items are pricier than the previous year. That’s why the number of buyers in the iftar markets is thinner this year,” says Sultan Hussain. Samar Abbas says, “I like the old city markets which sell traditional iftar items. Now I cannot afford these high-priced items. Perhaps soaring prices of cooking oil and other ingredients have compelled the sellers to increase the prices of iftar items.”