Political instability adds to woes of inflation-hit public

Rawalpindi/Islamabad : High inflation, inflated electricity bills, water crisis, and transport fares have broken the back of a common man, who feels the political instability in the country is proving too costly for them. The majority of the people whom, The News interviewed on Sunday were of the view that political leadership whether present or past is least interested in problems faced by the common man.

‘The News’ conducted a survey that revealed that the prices of onion were continuously on the rise as 1-kilogram onion was being sold at Rs100, tomatoes at Rs120, potatoes at Rs50, garlic at Rs320, and lady finger at Rs400 in all weekly bazaars. The prices of ghee and cooking oil were also increasing with each passing day and 1-kilogram local (low quality) ghee was selling at Rs520 and branded (fine quality) at Rs580 while cooking oil at Rs600. One kilogram tea (low quality) was selling at Rs900 and branded (fine quality) at Rs1200. One litre of tetra pack milk was selling at Rs200 while milkmen were selling it at Rs150 per litre and yogurt at Rs180 per kilogram. One kilogram of mutton was selling at Rs1600 to Rs1800 and beef at Rs800. The chicken is selling at Rs500 or Rs520.

The local management seems to have literally failed to regularise the prices of all these items.

The naanbais are selling a ‘roti’ at Rs15 and a ‘naan’ at Rs20 and a ‘roghni’ at Rs50.

The transporters are openly looting the public in the guise of POL prices and charging double or triple fares.

The common citizens are also facing the worst kind of humiliation here in all government offices even for their routine work. All was due to political instability, people bemoaned.

Yasmeen Zafar, a housewife buying vegetables from Committee Chowk Weekly Bazaar said who will save us. When will a real saviour appear in this country, she said. She said that I voted for former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the 2018 elections but this was my mistake. In 2018, I was buying 1-kilogram ghee at Rs180 to Rs220 but now I am buying one-kilogram ghee at Rs580. “Imran Khan was the trendsetter of inflation culture in this country,” she strongly protested.

Zara Hussain, another housewife said that she came to the weekly bazaar for some relief but in vain.

Muhammad Asghar, a common citizen said that there was a famine-like situation in the country but decision-makers were not taking it seriously. Inflation and other crisis are not the problems of higher authorities therefore they were taking all these issues non-seriously and least bothered by the political instability, he denounced.

Shabana Irshad, a final year student said that in 2018, the inflation ratio was only 5 per cent but during three and half years of (Imran Kha’s rule) the inflation ratio jumped to 27 per cent but nobody could question this. “We are not able to do newer and newer experiences because only and only the public has to pay the cost of these experiments,” she strongly condemned.