KARACHI, Sept 20: President of the National Labour Federation Rafiq Ahmed on Thursday expressed his grave concern over the soaring prices of the items of daily use, and announced that the federation would soon convene a gathering of its members to devise a joint strategy and launch a drive against the price spiral.

Criticising the government for its indifference towards the plight of labour class, he pointed out that wheat flour prices had shot up from Rs13 to Rs20 per kg which had gone beyond the purchasing power of the low-income group.

He lamented that profiteers and hoarders had been given a freehand to fleece consumers at their whim.

Mr Ahmed observed that artificial shortages and crises of essential commodities, like sugar and atta had been created by these unscrupulous elements.

He also flayed that the investigation by the National Accountability Bureau initiated a few months back against profiteers and hoarders had been stopped by the government reportedly at the behest of certain ministers involved in such scams.

The NLF chief rejected the government’s announcement about the import of wheat as propaganda ploy aimed at deceiving the masses, and argued that the hoarders would already have plundered the local wheat stocks till the arrival of the imported wheat.