PESHAWAR: With the start of Ramazan, food prices across khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have increased by 50%, making it difficult for consumers even to buy groceries.
Fruits and vegetables dealers are charging exorbitant prices as the administration has failed to implement the official price-list.
Hashim Khan, a resident of Peshawar, said that the government and the district administration had failed to control the prices of food items in the holy month of Ramazan. According Khan, tomatoes has gone up from Rs100 per kg to Rs200 whileonion, garlic, lemon have also witnessed 100 percent hike on the very first day of Ramazan.
The districts administration have issued price-list but unable to keep check on the market and stop the artificial shortage and price-hike. Thus, banana was available at Rs180 per dozen apples Rs400, strawberry Rs300 and watermelon was available at Rs100 per kilogram.
Despite repeated measures and announcements by the provincial government to control inflation during Ramazan, food items, common men are unable to get essential food items at affordable rates. The government claims to have established hundreds of subsidised markets in the province to provide essential items on affordable rates. But the consumers were not satisfied with government efforts.
According to Shakeel Khan, a daily wage laborer, He barely earned Rs700 per day but it is not enough to purchase the basic food items for one day consumption of his family.
