Food price hike
Over the weekend, the prime minister said the government would use all resources at its disposal to bring down food prices within this week. More than two years into the PTI government’s term, we knew well enough that the statement would have to be taken with a grain of salt. Umpteen promises to bring prices in check have already been made and broken, and the reassurances are getting quite empty at this point.
By Sunday, however, our pessimism had been replaced by serious concern as the government’s solution was to empower the Tiger Force to check prices in markets. This is problematic on several levels. For one, the Tiger Force is not a formal government body. Its legal authority to go around checking prices is questionable at best. Secondly, the potential for abuse in such a scheme is high. The youngsters lack any legal authority for the ‘job’ and could get into ugly situations with shopkeepers if they try to be proactive rather than simply acting as observers. Third, the Tiger Force’s assignment is redundant, considering the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and local administrations already do this work.
The only thing that this assignment accomplishes is outsourcing the government work. Why have paid professionals do a job which can be given to volunteers? The root of the problem actually lies in mismanagement far beyond the domain of the Tiger Force. The PM had said the government is examining the causes of the price hikes. While some traders are undoubtedly guilty of unscrupulous behaviour, their role in this crisis is relatively minor.
The government’s decision to allow import was supposed to help consumers, but rising international prices canceled out any possible benefits. Domestic supply mismanagement did the rest. Both of these are failures on the part of the government. Heads should roll. The government has had three ministers for food security so far. The previous two were arguably promoted after ‘helping’ get us to where we are. If causes are to be cited, we have already identified three.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2020.
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