I REMEMBER quite well that about 15 years ago, milk dealers in Bangkok had increased the retail price from 10 Thai baht to 12.5 per unit. The consumers were annoyed by the unilateral decision taken by the dealers without consulting the consumers’ association.

They decided to boycott the purchase of milk unless the dealers apologised for their action and brought the price to the original level. Over the next five days, there were almost no retail purchases. The dealers subsequently offered an unconditional apology and reduced the price to 9.5 baht, which was even lower than what they were charging before the hike.

The Thais clearly knew how to control the mafia by holding back on their needs in the short term. Can we have such a scenario in Pakistan? Hardly.

The year 2023 is the election year and all political parties would practically start their campaigns around the second half of 2022. The opposition is going to capitalise, and rightly so, on the prevailing high prices of essential commodities.

The common man on the street is not interested in the reasons behind the inflation. He is neither interested in GDP increase, nor he is impressed by the statistics of economic growth. For him, the availability of essential items at affordable prices is all that matters.

I would suggest to the government to impose rationing system throughout the country. There should be ration shops offering essential items on subsidised rates in every neighbourhood. These shops should be run under the supervision of dedicated volunteers.

If the prices are not controlled within a year, the incumbent rulers should not even think about making it big in the next elections.

S. Zaki Hasan
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2021