Desperate circumstances

With inflation reaching alarming levels, low-income communities are finding it impossible to make ends meet. The economic reality of Pakistan today is that thousands of families are struggling to pay rent, put food on the table, pay for their children’s education and afford basic amenities such as sanitation equipment. Joblessness and rampant unemployment coupled with paycuts and meager salaries have compounded the problem to shocking levels.

The situation has taken a serious mental toll on the heads of families. In order to stay afloat, they now resort to odd jobs in the informal economy or are forced to take unofficial loans from loan sharks to pay the bills and keep a roof over their families. Then there are many households who require every individual working in order to collectively pay the bills for their survival. But it is sometimes too much to bear, forcing them down a dangerous path. Just a few days prior, a family attempted suicide by consuming a poisonous substance due to frustration over inflation. A young child died while the others were saved on time at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital by emergency teams. In another incident that occurred in late February, a labourer as well as his two children gave their lives away by jumping into a canal due to poverty.

These incidents have broken the stereotype surrounding suicide and people have started to empathise. Moreover, it is welcoming that the government recently abolished the law punishing those who attempted it. But rehabilitation and awareness regarding economic relief and mental health remains largely absent. Instead of providing hope and working towards bettering the economic situation, the government remains busy in the politics of vendetta, rather than coming to a single table and working collectively to help poor families. This calls for much introspection.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2023.

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