THIS is with reference to the letter ‘It’s time to boycott buying chicken’ (March 16) which has suggested to the people to boycott buying chicken in order to counter the increase in its price in the market and force the retailers to restore the previous prices.

Nobody can disagree with his suggestion, but the question is: what else should be boycotted because prices of all eatables have risen beyond the reach of the poor and middle classes; be it flour, pulses, vegetables, eggs or bread. The price of fresh milk has reached Rs130 per litre.

In short, prices of all commodities are out of control. Recently, a cabinet minister stated that most of prime minister’s time was spent on efforts to bring down the prices of daily use items and give relief to the common man.

If the efforts put in by the prime minister himself for the last two-and-a-half years could not bring down the prices, and have instead resulted in manifold increase, then it is just a case of hoping against hope for any relief to come our way. The government needs to realise that its charity programmes cannot manage the ever-rising unemployment, poverty and hunger.

Malik ul Quddoos
Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2021