KARACHI, Nov 9: As the evening draws to a close, the hubbub in Saddar’s Shahabuddin market is at its usual peak. The air is thick with the voices of fruit and vegetable vendors booming out prices, the sound of meat being chopped and customers haggling loudly as they figure out the best that can be bought within limited budgets.
Mansoor stands amidst this din, 11 years old, small for his age and responsible for feeding a family of eight. Once a student, he now carries groceries for people shopping at the market. “I make around Rs250 a day and definitely feel the pinch of inflation,” he says. “For one thing, I had to drop out of school so that I could contribute to the household income. Although my family does not have to go hungry, we are never able to save any money or think beyond the basic necessities.”
The third of seven siblings, Mansoor ensures that his three younger brothers continue to go to school. His elder brother is a waiter in a small restaurant while his sister is married. And since Mansoor works in Shahabuddin market, he can pick up vegetables at lower rates – particularly those that are near rotting. “Fruit is a treat we can sometimes enjoy, though I can’t remember the last time I tasted a pomegranate,” he adds wistfully.
Mansoor’s family is grateful that there is, at least, food on the table. But nine-year-old Sohail, who sells combs and small accessories to earn a living, says that his family gets only one proper meal a day. “I live with my grandmother and three siblings and we normally eat roti for dinner, with either gravy or channa daal,” he says. “But even this has to be given up sometimes.” He adds that he sometimes wishes someone would buy him masoor daal, which he rarely gets to eat because of the exorbitant rates.
In a family that needs at least three-quarters of a kilo of wheat for one meal, Sohail’s daily income of Rs50-60 evaporates into thin air. Not having being taught any skills and with no schooling to fall back on, the boy sees no escape from the cruelly constant struggle to make ends meet.
Iqbal is yet another victim of inflation. Until a few months ago, this young man used to make pakoras and sell them on the streets, which earned him about Rs250 a day. The hike in the price of edible oil forced him to shut down his business and he now works for a caterer for Rs200 a day. The income loss has put a significant dent in his budget.
Between a rock and a hard place
People have to eat, no matter how bad the market situation regarding food. In the current situation, a growing number of people have had to compromise of the quality of the food they purchase.
“People who earlier bought rice worth Rs50 a kilo now resort to a lower quality in order to adjust it in their budget,” says Yaseen, a shopkeeper at a general store in Saddar. “Worse still, they have had to reduce the quantities in which they buy.”
Inflation has, therefore, also at least marginally affected shopkeepers, particularly those with small businesses. They blame the inflated rates squarely on hoarders who do not release food items until a major demand is created, and then sell at increased prices.
“We cannot help selling items at high rates since we also pay exorbitant rates for them,” says Yunus Ali, another shopkeeper. “If we refuse to buy items on the hoarders’ terms, we would be the losers since other buyers in the market are willing agree.”
Dr Asad Saeed, an economic expert, echoes these views. He believes that due to the high level of remittances, there is a lot of financial liquidity in the market which gives people the opportunity to make, for example, speculative investments in food. This, he says, has essentially led to the instability in prices. “Hardest-hit is the lower class since people’s earnings are low and they spend proportionally more on food than other classes,” he points out.
As a result, more and more people are looking for ways to substitute their income, by means fair or foul. The concept of beg, borrow or steal takes on a grim reality, with maids looking to their employers to provide clothing and at least a few food items.
While shopkeepers defend their prices and the government makes self-congratulatory announcements, for too many people inflation means a spiralling descent into a vicious cycle of barely making ends meet.
