ISLAMABAD: People who remember Shehbaz Sharif as a “good administrator” during his stint as the chief minister of Punjab for over a decade have been waiting for more than a year for the premier’s intervention to address rampant maladministration and unbridled price hike currently plaguing the twin cities.

Along with an increase in beggary and traffic congestion, these problems have added to the miseries of people already hit by unprecedented inflation due devaluation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar.

A few years ago, people witnessed raids by magistrates and assistant commissioners on wholesale and retail markets daily wherein heavy fines were imposed and shopkeepers were arrested for selling items at exorbitant rates besides hoarding.

That was a routine exercise of the local administration to keep a strict check on prices of essential items through district and town-level price control committees that brought stability to the prices of food items.

Twin cities witness rise in overpricing, traffic violations, crime rate

At present, it is believed that the current political impasse between the ruling alliance led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is not giving the premier much time to address people’s sufferings.

In addition to this, local administrations have been acting like silent spectators since the PTI came into power in 2018, and the attitude remains the same even to this day -- a year after the ouster of the PTI by the PML-N.

Prices

No check on the prices of food items is a common complaint against the current government. The district administrations in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, however, claimed that they were keeping a strict check on the prices in the markets. Ground realities, however, speak otherwise.

A market survey revealed that milkmen had increased prices of dairy items by Rs5 in Ramazan and meat sellers have posted an increase of Rs50 in the prices of beef and mutton. Loose milk is now selling from Rs180 to Rs200 per litre and yogurt at Rs220 to Rs 240 per kg.

Beef (with bones) sells at Rs850 and boneless at Rs1000 per kg.

The price of mutton is at an all-time high — it is being sold at Rs1800 per kg. With the advent of Ramazan, people have been complaining about the sharp rise in the prices of dates, Besan (ground grams), fruits, and vegetables.

“Whenever I go to the market with the gap of a couple of days, I find meat, mutton, milk, yogurt, and chicken prices increased by Rs5 to Rs10 per litre/kg. Is this the administration of local authorities,” questioned a retired government official, Saeed Ansari, at the Karachi Company commercial centre.

A woman who was busy shopping at F-11 Markaz complained that the prices of fruits and vegetables were so high that she found it difficult to buy them even once a week to make fruit salad.

Beggary

An influx of beggars in the twin cities especially at markets and traffic signals not only reflects poor administration of authorities in the twin cities but also puts people in complicated situations, residents have complained.

“You cannot even walk freely in the markets because a group of beggars would chase you until you snub them,” said a working woman at Saddar Market, Rawalpindi.

Dozens of beggars who converge at the Committee Chowk underpass make life harder for commuters, who find it difficult to navigate through the intersection on one of the busiest roads in Pindi. The federal capital is also presenting a bleak picture of administration as toddlers can be seen begging and sleeping at traffic signals on main roads of Islamabad even past midnight.

Traffic mess

Unchecked traffic violations in the two cities have also exposed how efficient the traffic police are. “For the last few years, we see motorcyclists and truck drivers plying their vehicles on the fast lane on major roads and highways, and if they are asked to abide by the rules, they get angry in response,” said a citizen, Riaz Khan.

Despite these rampant violations, the traffic police have failed to launch awareness campaigns -- as they used to -- through displaying of banners and placards. “But unfortunately we have not seen such campaigns for a long time,” he said while referring to such drives over the past years.

Street crime

According to media reports, street crimes have also gone up in the twin cities, with incidents of car snatchings and muggings on the rise. The increase in crime rate reflects poor governance and police work, a resident said.

Efforts underway to control hike

When contacted, Dr M Abdullah Tabassum, a spokesperson for the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration, claimed that efforts have been doubled to control artificial price hikes in Ramazan.

While giving details about the first week of Ramazan, Dr Tabassum said: “Our teams led by assistant commissioners and other senior officials have conducted inspections at 1,939 places in Islamabad and imposed Rs177,000 in fines for overcharging.”

About action against beggars, the official said 127 beggars were arrested under a campaign and 11 illegal petrol pumps were sealed. An official of the Rawalpindi district administration claimed the prices were under control. A senior official of the local administration, however, agreed that the administration was inactive regarding the price lists.

A senior official of the Punjab Information Department (PID) also agreed that the local administration was uncertain about launching a campaign against price hikes, but in the wake of Ramazan, it has geared up efforts to keep prices in check.

He quoted the chief commissioner of Rawalpindi as saying that the local administration was imposing fines of Rs700,000 to Rs800,000 per day on profiteers.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2023