Indian Thought Latest News & Views
Islamabad. The ongoing food crisis in Pakistan (Pakistan) is getting worse with each passing day. ‘The Pakistan Military Monitor’ (PMM) reported that the unprecedented shortage of wheat across the country could lead the country towards anarchy. Due to Pakistan’s worsening economic crisis, the poor citizens have been battling inflation and food crisis for months. In the midst of record-breaking inflation, the loss of lives of dozens of people in the stampede for flour at many places has also indicated the seriousness of the situation.
PMM Inflation-stricken, vulnerable people take a long time to recover, and the food crisis is making the future of the country’s poor look bleak, according to the report. Further, it has been told in the report that the rising inflation has made the crisis of flour even more tragic. The cost of simple snacks like samosas and pakoras is so high that they are out of reach of poor people. Despite queuing up outside government shops every day for ration, people have to return home empty-handed.
According to The Pakistan Military Monitor, subsidized wheat is difficult to find at government stores, as it is sold at exorbitant prices in the black market or bought in large quantities by the wealthy. Shortage of staple grains is translating into rising prices which are touching new highs every week. According to the latest Sensitive Price Index (SPI) released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, prices increased by 47.2 percent on a year-on-year basis for the week ending April 19, 2023. Sad stories of chaos and stampede in the markets are coming in from many areas covering all the provinces.
Thousands of people throng the markets and spend hours every day for bags of subsidized flour, which are in short supply. In a horrifying video shared last month by a UK man, Fran Jeffery, hundreds of people were seen hanging from a truck loaded with wheat flour and many others chasing after it. It was also seen how a child was trying to go near him and narrowly escaped being hit by the vehicle. There have also been many deaths due to the struggle of poor people for meager food grains. This includes deaths during stampedes in queues at government distribution points for the poor.
