Inflation breeds poverty and beyond any doubt poverty is the root of all evils. All the social issues arise owing to deviance. Unfortunately, our country is the victim of such a deviance.
We glare at people who are grumbling every day due to inflation, but that is on the rise every new day.
In such deplorable conditions, the poor are becoming poorer and the rich are enjoying life. When high inflation joins hand with poverty, it becomes unbearable. Life becomes more miserable and painful. High inflation is like adding insult to injury for the poor. Millions of poor people are now living in an even extreme form of poverty, which is on the rise
The current rise in the petrol prices and increment in the prices of daily use items show this, though the price rates in the international market are static. There is no logic to raise the prices of petrol. If it is a compulsion because our country is suffering from debt and deficit in the economy, It becomes compulsory to raise the petrol prices so that the desirable revenue is generated to pay the loan installment.
It is a doubtful situation for us as petrol is purchased from the international market. It costs the expenditure of cargo and route charges in such a process, and the petrol price rise is mandatory.
It has no logic to raise the prices of compressed natural gas. CNG rates in the country were nominal at the rate of a maximum of Rs 100 per kg. Now it has reached a rate of Rs 180 rupees per kg. This is despite CNG being naturally produced in the country.
Government is abrupt in its raise. It ignores the fact that CNG is mostly used by the middle and poor classes. The daily use of CNG is by the rickshaws and lots of cars like Mehrans and Altos or the passenger vans.
Our country is always the soft target of inflation. People prefer to select the party of their choice with the hope that it shall ensure minimal living expenses and get rid of poverty.
But, unfortunately, whenever the party is in government with the power they forget to give relief to the people.
There was a ray of hope that when the PTI party would come into power it would restore the quality of life with minimal living expenses. Poverty is the direct result of the existing social and economic system and economic policies, and the high inflation doubled down the impacts of poverty.
Inflation jumped to 14.6 percent, the highest in the last one decade. Food inflation in urban areas rose by 19.5 percent in January on a yearly basis and 2.5 percent on a monthly basis whereas it increased by 23.8 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, in rural areas. These figures clearly show that food inflation is very high in rural areas where most of the population lives.
Poverty is a venom, for it devours not only the indigent people but also the salaried and daily wager class. Since the current government took power in August2018, more than half a million people every month on average fell below the poverty line.
The most incurable disease for Pakistan is inflation, which is devouring the poor day by day. Our people live a very vulnerable life because of poverty. Nearly 39 percent of Pakistanis live under multidimensional poverty. More than a third of Pakistan’s population is living below the poverty line. Balochistan has the highest rate of poverty, Sindh comes second, followed by Khyber Pakhunkhwa and then Punjab.
The PTI agenda is to give relief to the poor people, so was the manifesto of previous parties. Instead of giving relief, these governments have taken relief from the people.
PTI carried the mission of eradicating corruption and bringing the corrupt to book, but this has not been met yet.
The price hike and poverty are giving more strength to corruption. How? The low-income class and the salaried person are unable to meet the everyday expenses of the family. They will go for the practice of corruption. Even though a person may have never done corruption in his entire professional career, now he will do the corruption to meet his daily expenses.
Our experience of electing a debut party in government is a bad venture. It has, instead of eliminating the roots of corruption, has given space to corruption. Petrol prices are not only preventing the poor people from surviving, but are also creating a space for deviance.
Whenever there is inflation it breeds poverty as well. Those suffering from poverty will go for misdemeanours and crimes starting from theft and going on to robbery, dacoity, and paid murderers.
There is a point to ponder if the incumbent ruling party is to revise the decision of raising the petrol prices. It causes novel problems. The inflation is making our country the fifth most expensive country in the world to live in.
The simple living standard of people is affected by inflation. It makes life miserable and causes mental stress. Inflation is not something that can be ignored. The commodities of daily use are out of the reach of people. How one can meet with the expenses of medical, education, and other such day-to-day issues which are related to the expenses.
Mounting inflation is handicapping the social standing of people. The cost of electricity, travel, and basic edibles are also touching sky while there is a universal desire for a rise in status.
In such deplorable conditions, the poor are becoming poorer and the rich are enjoying life. When high inflation joins hand with poverty, it becomes unbearable. Life becomes more miserable and painful.High inflation is like adding insult to injury for the poor. Millions of poor people are now living in an even extreme form of poverty, which is on the rise.
If the prime minister considers it suitable for the well-being of the people, he should cut off all the perks and privileges of the federal as well as provincial ministers. Our ministers are already rich with bank balances and have a side business. If they don’t take the salary of the government, in spite of that they would live a luxurious life. The money saved from their expenditure may be spent on the poor people. Those ministers who serve as government officials will be satisfied because of the power and authority of the government thry enjoy and the others who are not serving will leave the positions. Many new faces will voluntarily come to serve as government representatives.
In this way, our people will get some relief from inflation and eradication of poverty.
The writer can be reached at [email protected]
