Inflation battered populace frustrated with long queues, unavailability of items at utility stores

Ignominy, ridicule suffered waiting for cheap flour, oil, and sugar has people questioning govt’s priorities

Despite the headline inflation level declining for the month of June, the level is still in double digits, still wreaking havoc on purchasing power, and still forcing the poor to stand in long queues for daily-use commodities like flour, oil, and sugar.

The rate difference between daily-use items such as flour, oil, and sugar, in utility stores compared to the market, makes people flock to the government operated outlets, so they can save money.

However, the long queues and items disappearing as soon as they are stocked have made many lose their patience. One such customer is Khursheed, a resident of the Burns Road area in Karachi, who is fed up with the ignominy of a utility store visit. “We visit utility stores because flour costs Rs 648 for a 10 kilogram bag, which is much cheaper than the market rate.

However, there is no certainty regarding availability. I will stand in line for hours and by the time it is my turn, there will be no flour left to buy,” bemoaned Khursheed. Agreeing with Khursheed, Rabia, a resident of Punjab Colony, took the government to task.

“What is the point of harping on and on about daily-use commodities being available at utility stores for subsidised rates, when they are not available every time we visit?” This non-availability of items conundrum is not exclusive to Karachi only. In Lahore, Muhammad Ejaz, who is a government servant, also had a bone to pick with the government.

“I often have to take off from my job to stand in line for flour at the utility store in the Garhi Shahu area, as the wait time is usually anywhere between 3 to 4 hours. However, it is incredibly frustrating that by the time your turn comes, all items have been sold out.”

Ejaz implored the government to open up more utility stores so the wait time could be slashed and the general public could buy items without ignominy.

Naveed Sheikh, a resident of the Johar Town area, concurring with Ejaz, said that an increase in utility stores was a necessity in such inflationary times as no one liked to travel for close to an hour to get to a store and then be turned away due to non-availability of items or incredibly long queues. “The nearest store to me is nearly a 40-minute journey.

Imagine the ridicule one has to face if you make this long journey and come back empty handed,” complained Sheikh.

The situation is not any different in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P). Jibran Khan, who teaches at a government school and lives on the outskirts of the provincial capital, told the Express Tribune that the nearest utility store is roughly an hour’s journey away.

“I have no other option apart from travelling so far for daily use commodities as I have 4 kids to feed,” he said.

Abdul Qayyum, who was standing in the queue for flour outside one of the government operated stores in Peshawar, faces the same dilemma as Khan.

“Even though this utility store is far for me, the low rates of flour, oil, and sugar make it the only viable place to shop at,” informed Qayyum, adding that he had taken time off work to stand in the line for flour. When asked about the low number of stores in the province, Managing Director of the Utility Store Corporation K-P, Mehtab Banuri, said that opening a store in every place was impossible with the limited resources they had.

“We know there are long queues but there is no other solution, people wait in line everywhere in the world,” quipped Banuri. The Zonal Manager of Utility Stores in Lahore, Anwer Baloch, had similar views.

“It is impossible to set up a store in every locality,” said Baloch, further adding that the queues will remain long wherever stores are located because the prices are low. Whereas the Zonal Manager for Utility Stores in Karachi Changez Khan, denied the complaints of items not being available at utility stores altogether.

“All our utility stores are fully stocked and items are being supplied on time,” informed Khan while talking to the Express Tribune.