WHILE Ramazan is a blessing for us all, the disadvantaged population of the country is once again facing great misery during the holy month, thanks to the hoarding mafia and profiteers, who have made life a nightmare for the common man. The prices of basic utilities have witnessed a sharp hike due to lust of the profiteers.

Having failed in controlling the price manipulation of basic commodities and artificial inflation in the country, the federal and Sindh governments took the philanthropic route, and announced Rs7.5 billion and Rs22.5 billion relief packages, respectively. Later, the federal government enhanced the amount to Rs12.5 billion.

Such huge amounts, as per reports, will be disbursed through Utility Stores and the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in the form of subsidy on food items and hard cash through BISP-aligned banks.

Since the start of Ramazan, a huge rush of people can be seen outside Utility Stores and the designated banks who gather there in the hope of getting the so-called relief. Although one can assume that such kind of relief packages will help the poor, the way in which the relief is being disbursed is a misery itself for the poor. People spend hours and hours standing in queues, facing rude and abusive behaviour of the relevant staff. Women and the elderly are the ones who suffer the most due to improper manage- ment and lack of facilities.

Taking these conditions into conside- ration, it is difficult to call such an exercise a ‘philanthropic act’ aimed at providing relief. It is more about visibility with the aim of earning political mileage out of the exercise. Though some may not agree, it is a disgrace to human dignity. It is not the people who should be blamed for compromising their dignity. They are being forced to do that because the governments have failed to deliver, and are now takin the populist route. People simply have no options in these day of hyperinflation.

The relief packages announced by the federal and provincial governments are together worth Rs35 billion. This is a huge amount which could have been spent in so many other, better ways to enable people to be self-reliant in the long run. But the two governments have preferred to opt for providing meagre, short-term solutions. Only long-term policy initiatives can help people earn with dignity, to be self-reliant with sustained income streams improving their social mobility.

The two governments should surely think about creating opportunities for sustained income streams rather than keeping the poor dependent on doleouts.

Zain ul Abdin Jessar
Larkana

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2024