ID :
172528
Fri, 04/01/2011 - 16:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/172528
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For the poor food prices go out of reach in Pakistan
Karachi, April 01, 2011 (PPI): Ever rising poverty and food inflation is making life difficult for millions of poor Pakistanis, further aggravating hunger and malnutrition especially amongst children.
Prices of all kitchen items including meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, cooking oil, wheat flour, rice, lentils, spices and fresh milk are on the run, making it extremely difficult for poor families to provide two square meals to their children. Low income families spend all their earnings on food items leaving too little or nothing for education, healthcare and other needs. Hordes of beggars in markets and public places and queues before food charities called ‘lungers’ in local language are growing rapidly.
In Pakistan the minimum wages level is just Rs7000 per month and majority of factory owners and employers even do not five this meager wages to their labor. Many workers are just paid Rs3000 to Rs4000 per month and they consider them lucky as millions of other people have no job. In many families all members including children have to work in order to survive. Male members work in factories and shops, females work as house maids and children also work in eateries, stalls, garages and workshops, or simply beg on streets. For these people the concept of a welfare state is a cruel joke.
For poor and low-income families meat and fish are considered luxuries and they hardly enjoy a ‘meat day’ once a month on their salary day. A cup of black tea and a cheap rusk is a standard breakfast for millions of poor households. Lunch is often omitted and in case served comprises thin wheat flour bread called Chapati in local language and thin gravy of some cheap vegetable or lentils. Dinner meal is also such gravy with some bread or rice. Purchasing fruits is unthinkable feast for the poor.
The result is a sharp perpetual hunger and extreme malnutrition. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says some areas of northern Sindh have severe acute malnutrition rate of 6.1 per cent. It may be noted that as per the UN World Health Organization (WHO) standards 15 per cent malnutrition is an emergency threshold level, which triggers a humanitarian response. Children with severe acute malnutrition need immediate treatment and are ten times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than healthy children. If they do survive, their development and learning is poor and their income earning potential as adults is reduced.
The gradual withdrawal of subsidies on essential commodities, oil, gas and fuel directly hits the poor. Ever-growing indirect taxes also affect both rich and poor and in far their sting for the poor is sharper. Persisting load shedding is robbing thousands of jobs as many factories either close their doors or curtail production rending hordes of workers jobless. Small businesses and trades also suffer due to nine-hour daily load shedding as skilled workers like welders, mechanics, electricians and even tailors could not work on their machines in prolonged power outages.
In past the poor class used to get some relief through the Utility Stores, but the bureaucracy now had almost snatched away this facility, as the price difference is now negligible and the network of utility stores further shrunk instead of expanding it. People complaint that majority of the so-called franchised utility stores on just on paper to hoodwink both the government and public.
It is direly needed that the government should ensure freezing price hike of essential and basic kitchen commodities, besides ensuring their supply by taking foolproof actions against powerful mafias of millers, hoarders and black marketers.
People now openly say that the growing hunger and starvation is leading to a silent but very potent unrest in the country and if the opposition succeeded in transforming it into political effects, the very foundations of the prevailing socio-political system might be shaken. Food inflation and resultant poverty, hunger and starvations is a serious signal and if the establishment failed taking its notice the country would soon be on the brink of a big uprising.
Prices of all kitchen items including meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, cooking oil, wheat flour, rice, lentils, spices and fresh milk are on the run, making it extremely difficult for poor families to provide two square meals to their children. Low income families spend all their earnings on food items leaving too little or nothing for education, healthcare and other needs. Hordes of beggars in markets and public places and queues before food charities called ‘lungers’ in local language are growing rapidly.
In Pakistan the minimum wages level is just Rs7000 per month and majority of factory owners and employers even do not five this meager wages to their labor. Many workers are just paid Rs3000 to Rs4000 per month and they consider them lucky as millions of other people have no job. In many families all members including children have to work in order to survive. Male members work in factories and shops, females work as house maids and children also work in eateries, stalls, garages and workshops, or simply beg on streets. For these people the concept of a welfare state is a cruel joke.
For poor and low-income families meat and fish are considered luxuries and they hardly enjoy a ‘meat day’ once a month on their salary day. A cup of black tea and a cheap rusk is a standard breakfast for millions of poor households. Lunch is often omitted and in case served comprises thin wheat flour bread called Chapati in local language and thin gravy of some cheap vegetable or lentils. Dinner meal is also such gravy with some bread or rice. Purchasing fruits is unthinkable feast for the poor.
The result is a sharp perpetual hunger and extreme malnutrition. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says some areas of northern Sindh have severe acute malnutrition rate of 6.1 per cent. It may be noted that as per the UN World Health Organization (WHO) standards 15 per cent malnutrition is an emergency threshold level, which triggers a humanitarian response. Children with severe acute malnutrition need immediate treatment and are ten times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than healthy children. If they do survive, their development and learning is poor and their income earning potential as adults is reduced.
The gradual withdrawal of subsidies on essential commodities, oil, gas and fuel directly hits the poor. Ever-growing indirect taxes also affect both rich and poor and in far their sting for the poor is sharper. Persisting load shedding is robbing thousands of jobs as many factories either close their doors or curtail production rending hordes of workers jobless. Small businesses and trades also suffer due to nine-hour daily load shedding as skilled workers like welders, mechanics, electricians and even tailors could not work on their machines in prolonged power outages.
In past the poor class used to get some relief through the Utility Stores, but the bureaucracy now had almost snatched away this facility, as the price difference is now negligible and the network of utility stores further shrunk instead of expanding it. People complaint that majority of the so-called franchised utility stores on just on paper to hoodwink both the government and public.
It is direly needed that the government should ensure freezing price hike of essential and basic kitchen commodities, besides ensuring their supply by taking foolproof actions against powerful mafias of millers, hoarders and black marketers.
People now openly say that the growing hunger and starvation is leading to a silent but very potent unrest in the country and if the opposition succeeded in transforming it into political effects, the very foundations of the prevailing socio-political system might be shaken. Food inflation and resultant poverty, hunger and starvations is a serious signal and if the establishment failed taking its notice the country would soon be on the brink of a big uprising.
