Migrant workers struggle to afford roti

The Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) estimates per capita consumption of wheat to be around 125 kilogrammes per annum in Pakistan, making the grain approximately 60 per cent of an ordinary citizen’s daily diet.

However, the latest surge of inflation has put this essential food item beyond the reach of thousands of people in Karachi, the country’s most densely populated urban metropolis that is home to a significant population of working class migrants from other cities.

Many of these migrants, who come to the city from all parts of the country to earn a better living largely live on their own or in bachelor groups, relying on hotels and tandoors to get flatbread for daily consumption.

Owing to the surge in wheat prices, the city’s tandoor owners have also unilaterally hiked their roti prices in the provincial capital by at least rupees five per flatbread. Per a market survey, naans are currently priced at Rs18 to Rs20 a piece, while a chapatti costs Rs15. Similarly, the prices of different types of gravy, often available with a serving of naan or chaapti at hotels, has also been increased by Rs20 to 50; resulting in a Rs100 to Rs150 rise in an average person’s daily food bill.

Saleem Bhai, who is a migrant from rural Sindh, works as a carpenter in the port city and relies on his labour to send money back home to his family. For the years that he has lived in Karachi, Saleem Bhai, like thousands of other migrant workers has relied on tandoors and hotels for three meals a day. “Until some time ago, breakfast and two meals a day would cost me Rs250. Now it costs me over Rs350. If someone like me who barely earns Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 a day is made to spend 35 per cent of his earning on food, while all other expenditures have also gone up, how are we supposed to save any money to send back home to our families?” he commented, lamenting the hotels’ decision to increase food prices.

Similarly, Jamil Khan, who is a labourer from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also lives in a communal setup with other working class migrants in a dingy, windowless apartment in downtown Karachi. For him, affording food on a daily basis has become an uphill battle, along with paying rent and commute bills. “Some of my roommates cannot even afford bread and gravy anymore because they send what little they save to their families. For now, we have been sharing our meals to make sure that no one in the house goes hungry but none of us are any bette off. If hotels keeps making food so expensive, we will have no money to send to our family and that would end our purposes in this city which has fed us and families for so long,” he told.

However, the city’s hotel and tandoor owners on the other hand believe that increasing the price of flatbread was necessary to meet the surging overheads. Per restaurant owner Asif Munawar, prices of wheat, petroleum and electricity have all skyrocketed in the last few months, which has added to their business cost and increasing food prices is the only way they can afford to stay in business. “Flour is being sold at Rs95 to Rs100 per kilogramme, so are we supposed to keep flatbread prices at the old rate?” he questioned, putting the onus of the surging prices on the government and its inability to control inflation.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2022.