SIXTY per cent of Pakistan’s population lives below the poverty line and the inf- lationary wave that has gripped the nation is bound to push such people towards abject and entrenched poverty and starvation. This means millions of people without food; at least without nutritious, healthy food. For instance, milk, after the recent price hike, has now become more of a luxury for middle class households.

More or less 40pc children today in the country are already malnourished and stunted. With milk going off the table, the problem is going to get worse. But the government does not seem to be alarmed by such a negative prospect. The milk producers have simply shifted the burden of taxation onto the consumers who have been already struggling in the vortex of rising inflation, increasing taxes and actual reduction in their purchasing power. Unfortunately, they are the ones who have been left to suffer the failure of successive governments with respect to economic policies.

As such, our children, who represent our future, need nutritious food at affor- dable prices to be physically as well as mentally fit in order to compete and make their mark at the global stage in this rather competitive and knowledge-based world. However, the government’s attitude and approach thus far have been utterly lamentable and disconcerting.

Asma Qasim
Quetta

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2024